


I don't even know if I believe

by MattLightwood (TanyaHarries), TanyaHarries



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: ALL the lightwood family speaks spanish, AU, Alec is a frustrated musician, Fluff, M/M, Magnus is the head editor of a magazine, alec is a grumpy cat, alec loves indie/rock bands, and jump on alec to wake him up, catarina feels like she's magnus' mother, catarina is wise af, clary is a garroway, izzy and jace are great siblings, izzy is studying forensic pathology, max is a little shit who loves to play with jace, mostly mumford & sons lmao, no shadow world, no shadowhunters, ragnor likes going MIA, simon has a not so subtle crush on izzy, the chairman gives great advice
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-01
Updated: 2016-11-18
Packaged: 2018-07-28 15:05:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 24,098
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7645942
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TanyaHarries/pseuds/MattLightwood, https://archiveofourown.org/users/TanyaHarries/pseuds/TanyaHarries
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alec's biggest dream since he was little is to become a musician someday. Sadly for him, his mother believes that he has no future in a music career and tries to make him follow the path of a business man so one day he can rule in his father's corporation. On a really hot summer night, Alec finds himself alone in his house, so he opens his window and starts singing as if his dream wasn't as impossible as his mother wanted him to believe.</p><p>Magnus is the head editor of one of New York's most famous magazines and happens to be the Lightwoods' neighbor, so when he hears a young man's voice coming through his window, he can't help but want to go and see who's the owner of such a beautiful voice.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Idea coming from this [prompt](http://tanyaharries.tumblr.com/post/148279579254/otpprompts-its-a-hot-summer-night-person-a):  
>  _It’s a hot summer night. Person A and B are neighbors, and both have their windows open. Person A is reading when they hear Person B singing beautifully, but they are too afraid to go over. What happens next is the writer’s choice._
> 
> Thanks to [malecobsessed](http://malecobsessed.tumblr.com) on tumblr for reblogging it!  
> This is unbeta'd so please forgive any mistakes and my english. I'm not exactly sure if I'm going to make this a long fanfic or not, so yeah.
> 
> Enjoy and if you like it, please leave a kudo and a comment!
> 
> PS: The song is Believe by Mumford & Sons. The song's lyrics aren't really important, I just chose a song that I like at random lmao.

Alec was six years old when he saw a concert on television and decided that, when he grows older, he would become a musician. To say that his mother was completely against the idea when he said it out loud during dinner was to say _the least_.

 _“No, Alec.”_ She said back then. _“You are going to be the head of your father’s corporation, not some lazy man that sings for money on the streets.”_

_“But, mom-“_

_“No buts, Alexander Gideon Lightwood,”_ Maryse didn’t even look at him when she continued. _“This is the last time I want to hear about this, understood?”_

And he did understand. Obeying his parents was his most sacred duty. He had to show them that he could be _better_ ; that he could bring honor to the Lightwood name.

So the years passed and Alec kept doing what he was told by his mother. He came up as the best of his class in high school and present-time speaking he was studying business in college and working part-time at his father’s corporation. And even though her mother thought that all that I-want-to-be-a-musician phase was gone, that wasn’t entirely _true_.

He never gave up singing. He learned how to play some instruments while in high school thanks to his brother Jace, who was in the school’s band (because Maryse didn’t thought that Jace acting like a rock star was such a bad thing). Little by little and in the secrecy of his room and the school classrooms, Alec improved his abilities hoping that one day he could actually become the musician he always wanted to be.

Alec was sixteen years old when Jace and Isabelle bought him a guitar for his birthday. Their parents didn’t know about this gift, because it was either hidden on Alec’s closet or in Jace’s room, where it could easily be confused to be his brother’s.

It was a really hot summer night. The air was humid and it was a little painful to breathe. Alec was alone in his house after his parents went out on an event of some kind and his siblings were out having fun unlike him. (Izzy went out with her not-boyfriend Meliorn, Jace was probably fooling around with his band and Max was spending the night at one of his friends’).

At twenty-three, one could expect Alec to be going from party to party, even more now that he didn’t have classes and it was fucking summer; but to be fair, he didn’t really have that many _friends_ in college. He was always so focused in his studies that he didn’t find himself socializing with the kind that goes to parties and such.

It wasn’t really his style, to be completely honest. The peace and silence of his room was a hundred times better than any of that.

And besides, when he was completely alone at home, he could do whatever he wanted.

Alec stood up from his bed and walked to the window to open it. Fresh air touched his face when he did and Alec made sure to pull the curtains completely open too, so his room’s air could get a little less dull. The moon was shining in a sky with no clouds and no stars. It was a perfect night.

Taking a big breath, Alec went to his closet, took his guitar and flopped on his bed, a big smile already pulling at his lips only by touching the instrument that he loved so dearly.

And then he started playing.

 

_You may call it in this evening_

_But you’ve only lost the night_

_Preset all your pretty feelings_

_May they comfort you tonight_

_And I’m climbing over something_

_And I’m running through these walls_

His book almost fell from his hands.

Magnus gave a look around his room, trying to find the radio that he might have let on again. But who was he fooling? That beautiful voice was obviously not coming from his room or any place in his house.

The Chairman gave him a look from the bed, wiggling his ears as if trying to focus his senses on the voice coming from…

_Where?_

“Oh, I know, my charming little friend. I certainly do.”

Only in weird occasions Magnus allowed himself to let the windows open on a summer night -those damn mosquitoes weren’t about to have mercy on him- and only in even _more_ weird occasions he was sitting on his room on a Friday night.

_I don’t even know if I believe_

_I don’t even know if I believe_

_I don’t even know if I believe_

_Everything you’re trying to say to me._

_When_ did some probably famous singer moved to his neighborhood? Why was he not aware of this fact to begin with? As the head editor of one of the most successful magazines in New York -the country, really-, Magnus Bane was supposed and expected to be completely aware of all the gossips regarding the celebrity life, so having a famous neighbor and not knowing about it was almost _impossible_.

Magnus walked to his window just so he could get a better position to hear this angelic voice that was almost without a doubt coming from the Lightwoods’ household.

Oh, how Magnus _despised_ the Lightwoods. Well, not all of them, but he had met in the past with Maryse and Robert for business, and just to be generous, they were very… _guarded_ and _conservative_. Their first meeting ended with a decent business deal but with Magnus feeling like he had to punch somebody in the face.

He still held hope for their kids, but living with that kind of influence, one could only guess that the kids were spoiled and even more conservative brats.

_I had the strangest feeling_

_Your world’s not all it seems_

_So tired of misconceiving_

_What else this could’ve been_

Magnus felt so attacked by that voice that was so warm and beautiful; like he was being hugged by this perfect stranger and his inhuman singing abilities. He _needed_ to go there and see and hear for himself. His feet were itching with the desire to go and meet with this Lightwood kid that was caressing him with words that made no sense to him.

But how could he? Should he just go and knock on the door and say _“Hi, I was listening to you singing and honestly, I’ll be delighted to just sit and listen to you while I wet myself in the process”_? That sounded so _smooth_. Sarcasm intended.

What if this kid was just as dense as his parents? It would totally break the illusion of such a beautiful voice to find out that the owner wasn’t an angel, but a demon.

“No. I’ll stay,” Magnus said to himself picking up his book again and sitting on his armchair.

_So open up my eyes_

_Tell me I’m alive_

_This is never gonna go our way_

_If I’m gonna have to guess what’s on your mind_

Chairman Meow let out a very low meow and Magnus closed his book again.

“I _can’t_ , what if he’s an ogre?” Magnus asked his cat gesturing towards him and raising his eyebrows.

The cat responded with another noise, and even though Magnus wasn’t completely sure the Chairman was actually answering him, he let out a sigh and stood from his seat again. He wasn’t fooling anyone. He _had_ to go there.

“ _Fine_ , but whatever happens is on you.”

The Chairman wiggled his tail at him but didn’t say anything more; he rather got himself comfortable on Magnus’ bed, in the same spot that would be occupied by a lover in a very lucky night.

The plan was easy: Magnus was going to go and knock on the door and play dumb, probably going to ask something stupid like _“It’s your cable working?”_ and if the guy was nice enough, he _might_ ask about his singing.

For God’s sake, why was he worrying so much? Magnus have encountered a lot of people throughout his whole life and has most certainly been able to talk to even the most tough of individuals without batting an eye. If the kid was a pain in the ass or the devil himself, Magnus was just going to retrieve to his house and make the Chairman pay for the results.

Pulling at his hair, Magnus went outside.


	2. Curiosity fed the cat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back with more! This chapter is longer, thankfully, and somehow went somewhere I didn't expect lmao. Anyways, I'll talk about that later, at the end, see you there!

Standing at his neighbor’s door, Magnus started to wonder if coming was really a good idea; the more he thought about it the more he realized that it was just _weird_. What exactly could possibly want a stranger on a summer Friday night? Ask about the cable was the most dumb idea ever, considering how he was almost sure the boring Lightwoods didn’t even bother watching TV or anything of the sort.

But he was already outside, and already there, where _his_ voice carried to him from the second floor very clearly and very, _very_ sweetly. To be fair, Magnus was acting like a creep, he wasn’t going to lie about that. But when did that ever stopped him anyways?

Magnus took a long, deep and calming breath.

“Well, now or never,” he pressed the doorbell once but for a long time and the voice stopped abruptly as if someone just slapped the poor kid across the face.

There was some noise of something stumbling and falling inside the house; he didn’t want to assume more that he already had, but he could bet all his expensive jewelry that this Lightwood kid just fell down the stairs. Poor little soul, he thought, what could make a young man living a spoiled life stumble as much? Was he keeping some kind of secret? Or maybe he was just shy?

 _Magnus_ , he said to himself, _stop creating a movie out of this_.

Having made the acquaintance of Maryse and Robert Lightwood, he expected someone handsome to open the door; Magnus might despise the Lightwoods, but he wasn’t neither blind nor about to ignore that both Maryse and Robert were very attractive. It was only natural that their children will carry some of their genes. And even though he already had his expectations, he was certainly _not_ expecting to see the young man that opened the door for him.

Tall, dark and handsome wasn’t enough to describe this Greek god of beauty in front of him, but it was one simple way to put it.

Magnus himself was pretty tall, almost taller than most people he knew; but this kid, this _man_ was easily four inches taller. He had enough high to make someone believe that in another life he was a freaking giraffe.

But his height wasn’t even close to be the most incredible thing about this young man. His hair was ebony black and completely messed up, maybe because it was always that way -because he wasn’t interested in styling that mess- or maybe it was a part of the consequences of falling down the stairs. It didn’t matter because it looked _good_ on him. The guy looked good without even trying.

His skin, pale as ivory in contrast to his hair, seemed really smooth and definitely needed some sun; although Magnus couldn’t really care but that skin made his eyes stand out like a sore thumb. Beautiful and very alive… brown eyes? Green, maybe? _No_. Hazel. The most impressive eye color to ever exist.

And just to make this masterpiece look even better, he had a three-day beard. His plump and rosy lips were calling him.

Magnus was about to appreciate the young man’s body and outfit when he realized that he was staring, but to his own delight, the Lightwood kid was doing exactly the same to him.

“Ah, excuse me, I’m your neighbor,” Magnus pointed with his thumb in his house’s direction. “And I just wanted to ask-”

“ _Oh my god_ ,” the guy interrupted lifting his hands to his mouth. Magnus noted that he had long fingers, useful for playing piano. “Is this about me singing? I’m sorry, it wasn’t my intention to bother, I didn’t even realize that I was playing so loud and please just-”

Magnus could only stay silent for five seconds before he exploded into laughter, which made Lightwood take a back a little. This kid was completely _adorable_. There wasn’t any other way to describe him and his attitude. Any other guy his age would’ve snapped at him and shut the door on his face.

_Not an ogre, no._

“It’s okay. I didn’t come here to call the police on you. Actually,” Magnus swayed his shoulder a little, giving the kid an amused smile. “I came here to see who was singing in such a _delightful_ voice.”

Hazel eyes went impossibly big.

“I uh- well, I mean-” stumbling down the stairs and with his own words, it seemed. It was cute in every way possible. After trying one more time, Lightwood tall and handsome sighed and smiled a little. “Thanks. It was me, actually.”

“I figured as much,” Magnus said while quickly checking out the young man in front of him. “So, I’m Magnus. I can’t honestly understand how we haven’t met before, but I’m very glad to meet you.”

“Same, Alec. No, stop, what I mean is that my name is _Alec,_ ” Alec made hands gestures that almost looked like he was trying to stop himself from saying anything more embarrassing. “We haven’t met, but I know about you, a little at least. I think my parents made some kind of deal with you? Or your workplace, I’m not sure; it was a long time ago. But I’m pretty sure I heard your name at least once over dinner one time or two.”

Alec. _Alexander_. What an appropriate name for such an individual.

“That is correct. We had some sort of partnership a year or so ago.”

Alec seemed to be about to say something when a car parked on the street in front of the house. Magnus immediately saw the pizza drawing on the side of the car and smiled a little; he was more than interrupting this insanely gorgeous kid with his undying curiosity.

 

 _Shit_.

When the doorbell rang, Alec didn’t even thought about the gazillion of possibilities that could actually represent, he just jumped out of bed and hid his guitar at the back of his closet and ran into the hallways and down the stairs.

Maybe the term _falling_ was more accurate, but nobody needed to know that.

Alec didn’t know what he was expecting when he ran to open the door.

He wasn’t obviously expecting the man standing at the entrance wearing makeup and more necklaces than Alec could count with one hand. Possibly three or four inches shorter than him, the man in front of him was obviously older.

Alec took in his bronze skin showing all the way from his face to his neck and part of his chest that was partly exposed under his purple shirt with golden patterns. Something about this man was drawing Alec’s attention like bees to honey.

Maybe the blonde streaks in his hair? His brown eyes that somehow seemed gold when the light behind Alec reached them? Or was it his handsome and very attractive face as a whole?

Alec didn’t know, but this wasn’t okay _at all_. He wasn’t supposed to be feeling this. He wasn’t supposed to look at another guy like a treasure coming from heaven. He had a mission in his life and a family to protect; he couldn’t possibly _think_ or even consider the chances. It was forbidden, and he knew it.

Just when he thought that everything couldn’t possibly be worst, the man started talking. _Oh my god_. His voice and mannerisms. The way he swayed his shoulders and the weird way in which he expressed himself. Stuttering came natural to Alec, but in this occasion it was almost impossible to try and say something without sounding hopelessly _dumb_.

When the pizza guy arrived, Alec didn’t know whether to be grateful or upset. Who was he lying to? He was enjoying talking to Magnus, even if it was inappropriate.

“Um, excuse me for a second?” Alec said pulling his wallet from his jeans’ pockets.

“You can take all the seconds you need, darling,” Magnus smiled at him and Alec couldn’t help but smile back.

There was something in the way this man pronounced _darling_ that made it sound so effortless. Like he could call even the devil himself _darling_ and the bastard will easily believe that Magnus indeed appreciated him or something like that.

“As long,” Magnus put one hand on Alec’s elbow just when he was trying to find that damn ten dollar bill he won on a bet to Jace that same morning, “as you give them back, of course.”

Alec wasn’t _uncomfortable_. He was _shocked_. When was the last time anyone ever flirted so openly with him? High school? It was around that time girls thought they could get their ways with him even though he always showed himself deeply uneasy around them and their flirty ways.

He cleared his throat. “Ah, yeah, sure.”

 _Yeah, sure_.

The pizza guy approached the door wearing probably the most dirty t-shirt Alec had ever saw in his life; that piece of clothing had so much pizza ingredients on it that it could easily pose as one.

Alec furrowed his brow. This kid was holding _two_ pizzas.

“Sorry, but I only ordered one,” Alec quickly snatched the one on top from the delivery guys’ hands.

“Yeah, dude, we forgot to tell you over the phone. We have this promo today, order one pizza, and get another one for free,” as if that was enough of an explanation, the delivery guy dropped the other pizza box on top of the one Alec was already holding. “That’s seven dollars without the tip, by the way.”

Balancing both pizza boxes in one hand, Alec handed the kid ten dollars. He was holding himself not to scoff. _What the fuck was he going to do with that much pizza?_

“Keep the change. Thanks.”

“Nice, thanks, dude. Have a nice night, fellas!”

Magnus snorted and before they knew it, he was inside his car and gone into the night.

“Well, it has been an unquestionably scintillating meeting, but I don’t mean to bother you any longer for tonight,” Magnus gave Alec a quick wink before turning around and walking towards the sidewalk. “I’ll leave you to it!”

Alec had to stare at the boxes in his hands for full five seconds before making a decision; normally he would decide in less than a second, given his ability as a leader and his power of decision, but just this once he wasn’t entirely sure which was the right option.

“Magnus, wait!” Alec called. The man stopped and turned gracefully to look at him with a smile already pulling at his lips. “I have two large pizzas and I still kind of owe you some seconds. Would you like to, um, come in?”

Magnus stared somewhere on the streets before finally replying.

“I would love that.”

 

The Lightwoods’ household was elegant and clean, yet warm somehow. Magnus wasn’t expecting that at all when Alec offered him pizza. He couldn’t really understand the structure of the house just by standing in the middle of their nicely illuminated living room, but he could easily guess that Alec’s room was somewhere in the back at the second floor.

Here and there you could see portraits of the kids and the family together in many occasions and events that only were important to them. He saw pictures of a girl and two boys; one of them seemed to be the same age as Alec -or a year or two younger- while the other was significantly younger.

Even if the interior of the house felt somewhat warm, Magnus could tell that his surroundings were almost completely professional. Like the house was someone’s office. All the furniture was aligned with a purpose and every piece was chosen wisely so it could fool the most inexperienced but still feel a little business-like.

“Is wine okay? I know that pizza and wine don’t go together but…” Alec said, his deep voice coming from somewhere in the house. The kitchen, most likely.

“It is. Don’t fuss about it.”

Not to be more _presumptuous_ than he already was, but maybe the Lightwood kids weren’t as _spoiled_ as he initially thought.

Alec reappeared on the threshold that probably let to the kitchen with two glasses and a bottle of red wine; there was also a package of napkins somehow held between the two glasses. Instead of walking to Magnus, Alec stayed for a little, unsure somehow.

“I know I didn’t offer you a sit, but standing like that in the middle of the room is a little bit… _unnecessary_ ,” Alec pointed smiling and then making his way to one of the couches after setting the stuff he was carrying on the coffee table.

The living room was organized like every other living room across the world; a long couch placed at the center and two armchairs forming a _“u”_ in front and on each side of it. There was also what appeared to be a bean bag between the couch and one of the latter -for the youngest, most likely.

And at the center of all of it, a short but long black wooden coffee table; that was right now occupied by two pizza boxes, glasses and a bottle of wine.

“Forgive me; I was merely busy admiring the structure. You have a lovely home,” Magnus sat cross-legged by Alec’s side, even being this close, Magnus was sure to maintain a comfortable distance between them.

“Don’t worry. And thanks, my mom is the one behind all the arrangements,” Alec leaned to open one of the boxes and pull a slice of pizza. “My sister tends to move stuff around too, but my mother always put everything back.”

 _No shit_ , Magnus thought, wondering if the working desk and paperwork were hidden somewhere in there or upstairs.

“One sentence and I already want to meet this sister of yours,” allowing himself to feel a little more at home, Magnus served the wine on both glasses and then proceeded to take a slice of pizza in one hand and a glass in the other. “Although I’m more interested in meeting my neighbor idol at this moment.”

“You’re exaggerating. I am nothing like that,” trying to cover his flustered expression, Alec gave his pizza a big bite. After swallowing, he continued. “You weren’t supposed to hear me in the first place, but it’s so _hot_ today and I had to open the window.”

_That’s not the only extremely hot thing, sweetheart._

_Wait. What._

“Sorry, what was that?” Magnus heard him, but he wanted to believe he was _wrong_. He had to be.

Alec flushed all over his neck, cheeks and ears, turning bright pink from the blood running to his face. Oh god, he wasn’t wrong.

“It’s just-,” Alec said and started scratching his neck franticly, as if he thought that he could dissipate some of his blush by doing so. “I’m a business student. I’m the heir of our family company, music for me is…”

Magnus raised an eyebrow in question after Alec’s little ellipsis turned into a big pause that he tried to cover my biting his pizza again. Patient, but obviously curious, Magnus waited; his fingers were tapping rhythmically on the side of his glass.

“A hobby?” Magnus offered, comprehending that maybe insisting wasn’t a good idea.

“Yeah, that’s it. A _hobby_ ,” Alec affirmed sounding utterly grateful to Magnus for helping him out.

Magnus took a sip of his wine. _Damn_. These Lightwoods sure knew about wines. It was slightly dry, slightly sweet, but completely pleasant and soft in his mouth; there wasn’t a proper way to describe wine, it was good and that was it. _Well_ , maybe good didn’t begin to explain it.

“This wine is great. Are you sure it’s okay to share it with a stranger?” Magnus wasn’t letting go of the subject, just expressing his concerns out loud.

“You’re not a stranger. Not completely, at least,” Alec realized half way the sentence that Magnus _is_ a stranger for him, even if he had met with his parents before. “And besides, they have three more bottles of that. They won’t miss it.”

Magnus decided that accepting that was for the best. The next couple of minutes, neither of them said a word, just concentrated on eating and drinking. It was actually kind of funny; Alec did seem capable of eating both pizzas by himself, while Magnus was more eager on the wine. It didn’t serve the purpose exactly, but the company was nice and the wine was great. Better than staying in his room all by himself reading a book. Chairman Meow wasn’t exactly talkative.

“So, you said you study business?” Magnus asked, downing his fourth glass of wine, which didn’t make him feel even the least dizzy. He was an experienced drinker after all.

 _Experienced drunk_ will probably say one of his closest friends.

“I do. And I’m quite surprised of how much I enjoy it. I think anything that keeps my mind busy it’s nice,” Alec smiled at that, and Magnus noticed how his smile was genuine and happy, but that it was still little. You couldn’t see his teeth in that smile. “I’m hopefully graduating next year.

“What about you? Do you always visit your neighbors to ask them questions or is that just a hobby?” Alec said giving the smallest of sips to his wine. He didn’t look particularly fond of the drink.

“I do enjoy gossip, mind you. But no, that is not the only thing I occupy myself with,” Magnus let out a little laugh at that. “I’m the chief editor of Pandemonium, one of the most important magazines in the country. It’s great, because it’s a job that combines with my passion for gossip and fashion, in a sense.”

“Isabelle, my sister, loves that magazine, and since she’s very hard to please, I’m sure it’s a great one,” the way Alec talked about his sister was very warm. There was obviously much love in the smile pulling at his lips. “I only work part-time for my father. It must be great being your own boss and all.”

“It has its perks. But at the same time it’s problematic. Having to manage more employees than fingers in my hands it’s no easy job,” there were times that Magnus wanted to snap his fingers and make them _all_ disappear. “Moreover, if one of my employees makes a mistake, I’m the one who has to take the blame.”

“Wow that _does_ sound problematic.”

“It’s the price I have to pay. No big deal.”

Maybe it was a big deal, but he wasn’t about to bore Alec with the occupational hazards from his workplace.

Instead, he took advantage of this new silence to just stare at the young man sitting by his side. Was it corny to say that in all this business-like environment Alec made Magnus feel comfortable and at home? Maybe it was just him being charmed by Alec and his bright hazel eyes, but there wasn’t any doubt that this place wasn’t as welcoming when this kid wasn’t around.

He wondered if Alec felt the same about his home. At the moment he seemed relaxed, but somewhat on alert. At any sound coming from outside he would tense, but then relax again when it turned out being nothing.

This made him come back to the original subject.

“Will it be hasty to ask for a song? After all, I did come here for your voice,” Magnus said realizing that there was only half of a pizza left. He ate three slices, so obviously Alec downed the rest. “I mean, I’m not saying I don’t enjoy just staring at you, but…”

Alec flushed once again, but this time there was a smile on his face.

“Alright, but I’m warning you, I have never played in front of anyone other than my siblings,” Alec stood from the couch and started walking to the stairs. “Wait for a sec.”

“I’m not going anywhere.”

 

When Magnus was out of sight, Alec started freaking out.

Why the hell did he say yes? How many times someone had asked him to sing (whether it was because someone saw him with a guitar in school or college) and he always said no? This man who he just met an hour or so ago just asks for a freaking song and Alec is blushing and agreeing without a second thought.

 _“Well, you’ve been in Narnia for too long, Alec,”_ he could almost hear her sister saying inside his head.

And he would reply _“What the hell is Narnia?”_ of course.

It didn’t matter how much he felt attracted to Magnus or how overwhelmingly handsome he was, Alec couldn’t do it. Even if Magnus offered himself on a golden plate. It was a long time ago when Alec decided that he was either dying single or married to some girl he didn’t feel anything for. (He preferred the former, but with Maryse as mother…).

There was nothing to consider in this situation; Alec was sticking to his original plan and that was final. He could be friends with Magnus, but nothing further than that.

Arriving at his room, Alec realized the mess he left behind after running (falling) down the stairs to open the door. Pillows were piled on the floor, his closet completely opened and some clothes and shoes spilled around because he obviously had to trip with them on his way to the door.

Alec decided that he would clean later, but for now closing the window was enough.

He picked his guitar from the back of the closet and went back downstairs, trying to concentrate into thinking what could he sing that would sound cool and wouldn’t be too corny or too depressing. _Great_. He was subconsciously trying to impress Magnus.

When he came downstairs he found Magnus looking at one of the pictures standing close to the TV that only Max watched. Alec couldn’t see from where he was at the bottom of the stairs, but he knew that in that picture appeared him and his siblings at Izzy’s high school graduation almost four years ago.

Alec couldn’t guess what exactly was Magnus staring so intently at, but he couldn’t find in himself the courage to ask without sounding offensive.

He cleared his throat. Magnus placed the picture down and turned around smiling innocently.

“I don’t really know what to play, so I’m picking anything at random,” Alec sat again on the couch and placed the guitar comfortably on his thighs. “It’s a song from a band that I like, nothing too crazy.”

“I’m sure you’re going to sound great, whatever you choose to play.”

Alec just smiled. He couldn’t lie about the fact that he was really grateful to Magnus for being so kind; he wasn’t sure the other man was being honest or not, but it was nice for a change to hear someone so interested in his _talent_ other than his siblings.

He waited until Magnus was sitting once again beside him on the couch while trying some chords and making sure everything was sounding good. It was a pain how easily guitars got off-key. When everything seemed fine, he took a deep breath.

He started playing.

 _It's in my blood, it's in my water_  
_You try to tame me, tame me from the start_  
 _When the din is in your eye, flash your flesh_  
 _Desperate for a need to rise_

 

There was nothing he could do to hide the admiration flashing in his eyes. Alec, this kid, was so, _so_ great it was actually unbelievable. Maybe he didn’t have an opera voice or something too crazy, but as he already said before, his voice had _something_. Something that drew you to it, which embraced you in warmth so familiar it was impossible not to smile.

Magnus closed his eyes. Alec might be the most gorgeous human being he ever laid eyes upon in years, but he didn’t need his eyes to enjoy this magical act that Alec was playing just for him.

 _With a silver crystal on_  
_How well you used to know how to shine_  
 _In the place that's safe from harm_  
 _I had been blessed with a wilder mind_

Maybe the song he chose wasn’t exactly relaxing, but he could actually picture Alec looking not peaceful, but like peace. You could hear in his voice how he loses all tension, how he smiles and how this for him feels like he’s coming home. Alec was comfortable, and he was doing he loved deeply.

 _You can be every little thing you want nobody to know_  
_And you can try to drown out the street below_  
 _And you can call it love_  
 _If you want_

Magnus wasn’t going to lie, listening to this voice and drowning on it made him realize that for whatever reason Alec never could make people listen to him and it was sad. Not only for the public but for Alec himself. Because now he sounded the same as before, when Magnus was listening from his house through his open window, yet a lot different in feeling.

Because now someone was listening to him and this was what Alec really wanted.

It was obvious that singing in his room where nobody could hear him was secure for him, but it wasn’t what he wanted.

_But I thought we believed in an endless love_

_But I thought we believed in an endless love_

When Alec finished, Magnus opened his eyes to find Alec staring at him with his eyes open wide. It took Magnus another minute to realize that he was crying, and that one of his hands had found its way to one of Alec’s knees.

“Magnus, are you okay?” There was sincere worry coming out on his sweet voice when Alec placed the guitar on the ground.

It was so clear now. The lyrics of the song said it all. Alec might have chosen the song at random, but this wasn’t one of his favorite songs for something random.

_You can be every little thing you want nobody to know._

“ _Alexander_ ,” Magnus called ignoring Alec’s question completely as if he hadn’t said anything in the first place. “You _can’t_ do this.”

“What?” Alec said. He was scared and confused. Magnus’ intention wasn’t to scare him, he wanted to _save_ him. Save this complete stranger.

“I can see- hear that you love this. That this is what you want,” Magnus quickly dried his tears away. “And you shouldn’t ignore this because… because of whatever reason you might have. You have a great talent and an obvious passion. And I-”

“ _Magnus_ ,” Alec stopped him, and even when his hazel eyes were closed Magnus could see his troubled expression. Alec breathed through his nose, trying to pull himself together. “The problem is that this isn’t the right place or the right time. This isn’t about me wanting to do something; this is about the ones I love.

“This might sound weird, coming from a college student, but sometimes you can’t mingle what you love and what you have to do. And I have decided what is good for the ones around me,” Alec opened his eyes smiling sadly at Magnus. “This isn’t my dream anymore. It’s just something I can’t let go.”

What was happening? Magnus just wanted to hug this man tight between his arms and tell him that he could be anything. He could do anything. That those who loved him will always do, whatever he chose for himself. But instead, Magnus stayed there, sitting by his side and trying to understand _why_ he felt the need to help this kid he just met by accident.

It was sad, but Magnus had to remind himself that those that didn’t want to be helped couldn’t be helped. It was part of Magnus’ natural instincts, trying to help everyone around him like he held some kind of responsibility. But if Alec was this sure about his choice, there wasn’t anything he could do about it.

_“Always the undying optimist, aren’t you? Poor soul, so attracted to what’s broken but so unable to fix it.”_

Magnus rose from his place on the couch and Alec followed him with his eyes.

“I’d better go, it’s getting late and I have a cat to feed,” that was a great excuse for someone who didn’t know the Chairman. That cat probably already destroyed the kitchen to find something to eat. “It was a lovely evening. Thank you, Alec.”

Alec stood, suddenly looking extremely uncomfortable. Magnus had some kind of talent to feel this on people around him; like an aura.

He seemed about to say something, but decided against it; instead, he walked Magnus to the door without saying a single word. Magnus was wondering if he was breathing at all.

“I’ll see you around, I guess,” Magnus wanted to say something more to light the mood a little bit, but he couldn’t find it in himself to do so.

“Yeah, probably,” Alec wasn’t even looking at him. His eyes were fixated on something over Magnus’ head, obviously pretending to look him in the eye.

Sighing, he finally turned around. From the sidewalk he could almost swear that he heard Alec whispering:

_“I’m sorry.”_

Magnus wanted to scream. It wasn’t his fault. He didn’t know exactly who’s was, but he was sure as hell going to find out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song is Wilder Mind by Mumford & Sons! I couldn't think of another song, sorry lmao. Besides, I love Mumford a litte too much.
> 
> This turned a little angsty at the end, oops. Sorry about that. I don't know when will I have the next ch, but hopefully soon. I need to start planning the plot correctly and determine how things are going to go. Wish me luck! Thanks for reading, your comments and kudos!! :)


	3. Retreat, regroup and re-engage

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back! I honestly finished this chapter like three days ago but thought it was better to wait. Anyways, I love the title of this chapter too much and a little wink that I left from the show at some point ;)
> 
> Thanks once again for your comments and kudos! Please enjoy the chapter :)

Even on Saturdays Magnus was always glad to come to work at nine o’clock. But today wasn’t particularly a good time to sit in front of a desk and read all these articles and look at all these pictures that required his attention and approval.

What happened the night before was so written on his brain and was making him lose his mind. When he went to bed last night, he hoped to dream about Alec’s singing voice, not his sad smile telling him that he chose his family’s wellbeing over his own.

He needed to do something. Just not _this_.

“ _Mr. Bane, Ms. Loss is here to see you_ ,” the voice of a woman came from the intercom and Magnus threw some papers on his desk, giving up on them.

“Let her in, then, Nora.”

Nora, his secretary and friend, was probably one of the most diligent and kind person he had ever met in the industry. Magnus was very grateful to have her kind soul around, even more when he was acting like he wasn’t really there.

There was some kind of beeping noise coming from the intercom and suddenly Catarina Loss was inside his office, looking fierce in her hospital uniform and extremely confused and worried. Catarina was, along with others, one of his closest friends; they’ve been friends for more than a decade. Sometimes he even forgot that she wasn’t actually a sister.

Her dark skin and black curls had a great contrast with her blue uniform. His friend wasn’t exactly interested in looking fashionable when going to work, but she somehow managed to look great in everything.

Or maybe Magnus was just really fond of her and that made him partially blind.

“Catarina, to what do I owe the pleasure?” Magnus stood from his desk to go and hug his friend and place one kiss on each of her cheeks. “I thought you weren’t available until _never-ever_?”

“I was going to ask you why I’m here too, but is great to see you,” Catarina flopped gracelessly on an armchair in front of Magnus’ desk.

“What are you talking about? I didn’t call you or anything.”

“Nora did. She said you’ve been acting all weird since you came to work, and since Ragnor has gone MIA, I’m here to find out what’s going on,” Catarina crossed her hands over her chest and rested her back on the back of her chair. “So, who did you take to bed last night and how drunk were you?”

Magnus grimaced a little but smiled in the end. He knew Catarina wasn’t being serious; after all, Magnus hadn’t really made that type of mistakes for _years_. He was an adult now and not even alcohol could make him do something that he would regret in the morning.

“It’s complicated, really. What happened, I mean,” Magnus admitted placing himself on the armchair by her side. “Maybe it isn’t that much of a big deal, to be honest with you. I’m just over thinking possibilities and awful case-scenarios.”

“I have to go back in ten minutes, dear, so I suggest you keep it simple.”

He sighed at that. He couldn’t explain Alec Lightwood with _simple_. “Remember the Lightwoods? The ones I made an article about a couple years ago?”

“How could I forget? You bought a punching bag just to take all your stress on it,” there was amusement in her voice, but Magnus couldn’t blame her. “And then, a week later, you sold it on e-bay. What a waste.”

“It wouldn’t call it a _waste_. At least I didn’t murder anyone.”

“You couldn’t even if you tried. You have a kind heart,” Catarina whispered, pinching gently at Magnus’ nose. “Keep going, please.”

“The thing is, they have a son who is a great singer. I accidentally heard him singing through my window last night, so curious me couldn’t help and went to meet him,” Magnus was talking faster than usual, but she was in a hurry and he wanted to reach the point. “He said something along the lines of _you weren’t supposed to hear me at all_ , which sounded so weird?

“And then he sang for me and I felt his passion and his love for music and I could not stop myself, Cat, I had to tell him,” Magnus closed his eyes for a second, feeling the tears from last night as if he were crying there and then. Catarina placed a hand on his knee to give him support. “I told him that he doesn’t have to hide this. Whatever the reason is. That he has such a beautiful talent and his passion shouldn’t be shut down.”

“And what did he say?”

“That sometimes people couldn’t mix the things they love and what they need to do. That he had a family to take care of and that music was just something he couldn’t let go of,” Alec’s words were engraved in his mind, maybe forever. “What kind of young person says something so depressing? He was _sad_ , Cat. My heart was about to break.”

“But if this is what he wants, why do you think you have to do something, Magnus? There are people out there who don’t like change,” Catarina said, searching for his friend’s eyes. “Maybe he’s comfortable the way he lives. Maybe he really thinks of music as just a hobby. You don’t even know this kid, Magnus. I think your good heart is getting the best of you.”

“So you say I should just sit down, pop some popcorn and watch as this kid lives a lie for the rest of his life?” Magnus snorted. “Forgive me if I feel like that’s mindless.”

Catarina sat back at that, taking her time to think her answer. Her ten minutes were about to end, but suddenly she wasn’t in that much of a hurry. Magnus was happy to have her as a friend, even if she was pretty prone to disappear into work for weeks or months. Saving lives was always her priority.

Maybe Cat felt she was saving Magnus’ right now?

“I guess you don’t need to completely step back. Maybe give the kid some space and watch from the shadows,” Catarina tapped her cheek with a blue painted nail. “Get to know him better and help him little by little, if you’re so fixated. He won’t change his mind over one night, after all.”

Magnus plopped his head on her shoulder, sighing heavily but smiling.

“Why are you so wise, Catarina Loss?”

“You might be too, if your brain wasn’t full of glitter.”

“Rude.”

“You know I love you and your glitter.”

“I certainly do, dear.”

 

Weekends were the only time when Alec allowed himself to stay in bed past nine. After all he was free from work and didn’t have anything better to do than rest. That’s why it was a big shock when his little brother, fourteen year old Max started jumping on him screaming that he should wake the fuck up.

Alec was still sleeping, that’s why he didn’t find in himself to tell his little brother not to say any bad words for _fuck’s_ sake.

Max leaved him after making Alec promise that he will be downstairs in a couple of minutes. Apparently Jace was also part of this plan, because Alec could hear him cackling from the living room like a very desperate rooster.

After taking a shower and put into some comfy clothes (because he wasn’t really planning to leave the house), Alec leaved his room and went downstairs where his brothers were playing Mario Kart and Izzy was reading a book. Sometimes Alec forgot that they were his younger siblings and not his kids; they weren’t even that younger, except for Max, but that was another thing.

“Morning,” Alec said flopping onto the couch besides Max. The beanbag was being occupied by Jace.

Only Isabelle looked at him. “Good morning,” they all said, some more concentrated than the others.

“Bro, you want to play with us? You can join after this race,” Jace offered making a sudden move to the left as if that could help him avoid something in the game. He crashed on a wall and Max’s character passed him by. “Dammit!”

“Nah, I’m alright,” Alec started fidgeting with his t-shirt and maybe he sounded a little more down than he allowed them to see.

“You can watch me beat Jace’s ass anyways, which is cool enough,” Max was giggling by Alec’s side, moving his arms one way or the other doing something similar to what Jace did before.

Alec nodded. He wasn’t interested at all and he felt as if he wasn’t really there at the moment; his head was going places, mainly to their neighbor’s house, where a certain individual retreated after what happened last night. Alec didn’t want to think about that more than he already had the night before, but his mind kept going there even when he tried.

Instead of saying anything more, Alec just stared at the TV to watch his brothers play against each other. It made him smile a little, seeing them both screaming and moving around in their seats as if that could help them or their characters somehow. Jace always said that was a _gamer_ thing. Alec thought it was impractical, but he didn’t argue much because there was just no point.

 _There was just no point_.

Just as what happened. There wasn’t any point in thinking about his dream because there was no point in doing so. No one will benefit from him going stray and following a dream that could only end in disaster, instead of just following the path that was already written for him to help his family.

“Alec, what’s wrong? You look like a beaten puppy,” Isabelle left her book to the side to look at him. Her long dark hair was pulled up in a ponytail and even inside the house she was wearing makeup. She was also wearing black jeans and one of Alec’s t-shirt that was a little too big for her.

Jace paused the game to look at him too.

“She’s right, are you alright, bud?” Jace lifted himself up as much as he could just so he could give a good look at his brother.

“Maybe he feels sick from all the pizza he ate last night,” Max pointed while poking gently at Alec’s stomach.

“I’m fine. I’m just a little overwhelmed with work. Don’t worry,” Alec lied simply because telling them about it wasn´t worth it. Besides, telling them will mean talking about the two subjects he avoided; music and being gay.

Izzy furrowed her brow. What Alec didn’t know was that she noticed that last night two glasses were used to drink wine and a bottle was emptied too. Alec didn’t like wine that much and he obviously didn’t drink out of two glasses. She suspected something happened with someone, but she decided that she won’t pressure him into talking about it. Alec will talk when he feels like it.

To be honest with himself, Alec felt as if inviting Magnus inside was a mistake. Not because of what happened or what he said, he actually felt pretty grateful for his kind words and concern, but because now he felt pretty bad because he not only lied to him (by saying that singing wasn’t more than a hobby) but because he was now thinking too much about it.

Magnus brought into Alec’s mind too many things that he’d been avoiding for years now. And it was really sad but he knew that Magnus was right; following a path that was already written for him instead of following his dream was going to lead to a miserable life, but what else could he do? He was the heir, the big brother, the one responsible for his siblings’ sake.

He couldn’t imagine Izzy, Jace or Max filling in his shoes. Moreover he didn’t _want_ them to do so. Their siblings’ happiness was too much important to Alec and he knew that neither of them will be comfortable letting go from their hopes and dreams just to run the family company. Of course, he knew that they will take the bullet just to help him, but the problem was that he didn’t want them too.´

Protecting them was his priority.

“You know you can talk to us, right?” Max whispered, but in the silence of the room his voice sounded perfectly clear.

“Yes, I know. Thanks, guys,” completely tired and now too overwhelmed by his thoughts, Alec stood from the couch with his siblings’ eyes on him. “I’m going for a walk. See you in a bit.”

Alec changed into some jeans and went outside, allowing his feet and mind lead him to whatever place they wanted. It was probably hours later when he realized that he was standing in the middle of the city, being surrounded by a crowd that was busy with their jobs and other things.

 

It was about two when Magnus decided that he could go home. Working on Saturdays was something he did out of mere boredom, since it wasn’t completely necessary, which was the reason why he allowed himself to leave whenever he felt like it. After his conversation with Catarina he felt much better and finished a considerable amount of paperwork, so he was feeling satisfied for the day.

“Thanks for today, Nora. You can leave whenever you like,” Magnus said on his way to the elevator. “Have a nice weekend, my friend!”

“You too, Magnus!”

He smiled to his secretary on his way out, noticing for the first time in all day that she got a haircut. How awful for someone so interested in fashion to notice such a change on his secretary after hours on the same building. She was a petit brunette with blue eyes, so the bob haircut she got made her look cute and even gave some childish feeling to her face.

He was actually in great spirits now, not only because of Catarina’s visit, but also because he was seeing someone really interesting on Monday. This person was going to be a huge star and Magnus was proud to say that he would have the exclusive first interview. It was only normal that a job like this landed on his hands, but sometimes other magazines were faster than him.

Not this time, thankfully.

Before leaving the building, Magnus took off his jacket and untied his tie, leaving him wearing a white shirt and black pants. His hair still had the blonde highlights and was perfectly styled to one side. For makeup he just applied some glittery eyeliner. Some of his fingers carried rings and that was it.

Outside it was hot. Not as much as the other night, but still unbearable with a suit jacket (reason why he took it off in the first place). Magnus was already dreaming with a cold shower and hours spent on the air conditioner of his house when a head in the sea of peasants called his attention.

Alec looked completely puzzled in the middle of the moving crowd, as if he weren’t sure of where he was standing at the moment. He was wearing black jeans and a navy blue t-shirt that embraced his chest beautifully and highlighted his broad shoulder and tall figure. Not the colors Magnus would chose on such a hot day, but it suited Alec really well.

Magnus actually needed a moment to decide what to do next. He could just walk away and wait for a little more or he could go and meet Alec so he could apologize and start over. The latter seemed to be what he would normally do, so he decided to do so.

Alec didn’t notice him coming until Magnus was already there, standing by his side.

“I understand why anyone would be so mesmerized by the view, but I think you’re staring too much,” Magnus said with his normal amused voice.

“Oh, hi, Magnus,” Alec cleared his throat and licked his lips, maybe as part of a nervous tick. It wasn’t good for Magnus’ health though. “I just went out for a walk and somehow ended up here. I was kind of lost.”

“Well, hi to you too, Alec,” Magnus swayed his shoulders a little. He did that a lot when nervous. “I never question fate, so why don’t you let me treat you to a coffee? If you’re here already is better to seize the opportunity, that’s what I always say.”

“I’d like that, but you don’t _need_ to-”

Magnus quickly shushed Alec by placing a finger in front of his lips.

“I want to. Besides, yesterday you treated me to pizza and a very delicious wine,” _and great company_ , but Magnus wasn’t going to say that. Catarina said to give him space, so that’s what he was going to do. “Don’t offend this man by rejecting his kind offer, Alec.”

Magnus pulled his finger to the side and Alec smiled, clearly amused by the whole situation. Magnus was glad he could actually make him smile after what happened and it obviously gave him some kind of peace of mind.

“Okay. But let’s not turn this into a habit.”

Pleased enough with his answer, Magnus started walking towards his favorite coffee shop, expecting for Alec to follow, which he did. He realized that Alec was really light-footed, which made him really hard to hear coming. Magnus actually had to look a time or two over his shoulder to make sure he was actually following.

After getting a coffee for both of them, they sat at one of the tables of the little coffee shop, one in front of the other. Magnus decided that he wasn’t going to talk about Alec and his talent, just try and be friends and get to know each other. After all Catarina was right, pushing and scaring the kid away wasn’t a good idea.

 

“Look, I just wanted to say I’m sorry for the other day,” Magnus said, and Alec realized that he was rubbing his fingers with his thumb. “I was out of place. I shouldn’t have said what I said. My nature brought the best of me.”

Alec was so confused. Why was Magnus being so incredibly nice? Maybe Alec didn’t say or do anything wrong, but he still lied and he still acted like he didn’t care at all. After how things went, he wasn’t really expecting Magnus to even consider speaking to him again. But here he was, buying him coffee and apologizing for something that Alec was actually grateful for.

“No. It’s okay. You shouldn’t apologize for being concern about me and try to help me about it,” Alec didn’t really know how to phrase that, because he couldn’t just go and admit that Magnus was right about everything. He couldn’t. “Anyways, did you come out of work? How was your day?”

Alec gave him a full smile. He wasn’t lying when he said that he wanted to be friends with this person; Alec felt like Magnus was the kind of guy that helped you come out of your shell and showed you things about you that you didn’t know yourself. He seemed to be an adventurous and an adventure at the same time. Much people probably would be intimidated or wouldn’t try to befriend someone like him, but Alec knew that this could actually help him out.

If Alec couldn’t be himself all the time, maybe he could lose up a bit with Magnus.

It was a little sad thinking that Magnus could be his little escape at times, but it was something he was willing to take if given the opportunity.

Magnus smiled back. “Oh, I had a lovely day. A friend paid me a visit and I just got myself a very exclusive interview with an interesting person,” he looked pretty happy about this, and Alec couldn’t help but smile again. “And after that I found you on the streets. What can I say? I feel very lucky today.”

“That’s nice to hear. I’m happy for you,” Alec said and he truly was. Getting opportunities at work was always something to be happy about on every line of work as little it could seem. “C’mon, you don’t mean that. At best I was a casualty that just cost you some cash.”

Magnus laughed at that. He had this type of soft and low way of laughing that had you smiling from the warmth it spread on your chest.

“I can assure you I mean almost everything I say. This being part of that, of course,” Magnus took a long sip of his coffee, his brown eyes never leaving Alec’s. “What about you? What were you doing before deciding to take a walk?”

“I was sleeping, but my little brother, Max, decided that jumping on me to wake me up was a good idea,” Alec rolled his eyes and smiled a little. “Then I watched him and my other brother Jace play Mario Kart.”

“And what about your sister, Isabelle? She didn’t find Mario interesting enough? Or was she moving everything around your house?”

Alec was happy to realize that Magnus did press attention to him and that he recalled something as little as the fact that Isabelle’s décor tastes didn’t resonate with his mother’s. He shouldn’t be surprised though, considering that Magnus did look like the type to care for details.

“She was there reading a book. Izzy’s not the kind to play videogames,” Alec now noticed that he didn’t ask Isabelle what was she reading, as he would do often when not feeling down. “She was probably studying. She’s majoring in forensic pathology. Can you imagine? I mean, she’s excessively smart, but she doesn’t look like someone who will enjoy that line of work.”

Magnus seemed really impressed by this fact, just like everybody who learned this little thing about his sister. Since they were kids, everybody thought Isabelle was going to decant on something more fashionable or delicate, but when she announced about her career choice, it actually made sense if you thought about it. Besides, Izzy was way too intelligent to waste it on just fashion.

“She certainly sounds like an interesting individual,” Magnus was looking Alec dead in the eye, and somehow Alec understood what that look meant.

But it didn’t make any sense. How could Magnus think Alec was more interesting than Isabelle? Isabelle was fierce, funny, clever and beautiful. She had an undying passion for everything she did and a will of fire that could scare off even the most dangerous creature in the world. She loved with all her heart and she loved and protected not only him, but Jace and Max, with every fiber of her being.

Izzy was the cool girl that you either want to be or be with. Alec was nothing but a shadow standing next to her.

“I think she could say the same thing about you,” Alec pointed, a fond smile spreading on his face just by thinking of her. “I know this is a little out of place, but would you consider, I don’t know, meeting with her sometime? I’m sure she would be very happy, seeing how she loves your work and all.”

Alec told himself that he was asking Magnus this for Izzy. Not because of him. Being friends with Magnus seemed easy and nice, and he wanted it, even if they didn’t have a great start. And besides, there were times when he didn’t feel as comfortable talking to Jace or Isabelle about certain things and having a friend could prove being useful.

There he was, trying to find the utility of it all just to justify the fact that he wanted to be close to this man. _Nice one, Alec_. If Izzy could read his mind, she’ll probably say that he was so dumb and _cute_ and she’ll probably never stop talking about how happy she was that Alec was making friends. And not only that, but that he made such an attractive friend, too.

“Absolutely. You don’t need to ask,” Magnus seemed sincere about this and Alec was glad. Mostly because of Izzy, _of course_. “Besides, befriending your sister means more time with you, what is there to refuse?”

Surprised and flushed yet again for Magnus’ flirtations, Alec opened his mouth to say something back, but was interrupted by his phone ringing from his pocket. If Magnus could snap his fingers and make that thing disappear…

 

Just when Magnus was enjoying their little chat, someone had to interrupt them. Thank you very much, whoever. Alec closed his mouth and pulled his phone from his pocket in a rush, as if he already knew who was calling and why. Magnus noticed Alec almost didn’t touch his coffee.

“Hey, ah, mother,” Alec turned around on his sit a little, trying to get a little more privacy, probably out of habit more than need. There was a pause. “Of course.”

And with that, the call was over. Alec hung up and turned again to face Magnus, he seemed suddenly troubled.

“Duty calls,” Alec said as an explanation, standing up and taking his coffee with him.

“Ah, the furrowed brow,” Magnus pointed, picking his coffee with both hands and smiling and wiggling his eyebrows at Alec. “Maryse must be recruiting you for something… _unseemly_.”

“Uh, listen, Magnus, I- I wish, I- I wish, _I don’t know wh-_ ,” Alec stuttering was nothing but adorable. How can such a tall and big man be such a cute and shy puppy? It didn’t make sense.

Magnus placed once again one finger in front of his lips but without touching them. He was enjoying doing this, since it made Alec smile.

“I understand,” Magnus pulled his finger back and then took his own phone out. “What if I ask you for your number so we can talk about this meeting with your sister later?”

“That’s a great idea, actually.”

They quickly exchanged numbers and Magnus expected Alec to leave just like that, but he stood there like a deer in the headlights, which was even more adorable than his stuttering earlier.

“I, um, see you again soon?” Alec asked and Magnus could see his blush rise from his neck to his cheeks.

“Promised. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“Okay. Thanks for the coffee,” Alec squeezed Magnus forearm over the table for a second and started for the door. “And for everything else. See you.”

Magnus watched with an amused smile how Alec tripped with his own feet once on the street and thought how did he live all these years without meeting this adorable dork living just by his door?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That was it! I'm hoping I can upload next week, but I'll see bc next week I have a test and it's my bday! I guess we'll see, but I don't think it's going to take me too long :)
> 
> Don't forget you can come and talk to me about the fic (or anything, really!) at my tumblr (MattLightwood). Thanks for reading, your comments and kudos! When I say that they help me to keep writing, I'm not kidding.
> 
> See you next time :)!


	4. Everything happens for a reason

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly I had a shitty week, but I finally ended this! Yesterday was my birthday, so I'm nineteen now lmao. But don't get me wrong, I'm still childish af.
> 
> Anyways, this chapter has some words in spanish, but they're rather easy and if you don't understand them, let me know in the comments! Enjoy ;)

Jace wasn’t blind, so even though Alec looked better after Saturday, he felt the mighty need to _do_ something for him.

Alec was sitting on his bed with his back against the headboard with his legs spread in front of him. He was trying to read one of the books they were going to use in his last year at college, just to get a little ahead of things. Concentrating wasn’t particularly easy, but he could still understand some things when he read the sentences twice or thrice.

For some reason he wasn’t brave enough to ask, he was free that Monday, so the only thing he could do was either study or play the guitar (which wasn’t really an option at the moment considering his mom was just downstairs). He wondered what the hell did Isabelle and Jace did all day on their free time; he doubted they were going to parties at freaking daylight.

He stared at his room for a little, considering the plain walls with no signal of something even the tiniest personal; the way all the furniture was aligned and there for a specific purpose more than just being there for décor. Even the sheets on his bed were plain.

Alec wasn’t a fan of crazy things or unnecessary paraphernalia. His clothes weren’t classified by color; he didn’t care for the position of his socks or his shoes on their respective drawers. His books, notes and materials in general were sprawled on his desk, covering it completely and making it almost unusable. It kind of makes it defeat its purpose, but Alec always moved stuff away when it was necessary.

He can’t remember when did this all started. When did he change so much? He still remembered having a much more funny room in the past (now that room belonged to Max), he still feels on his skin when he was little and staying up all night lying on the floor with Jace by his side and Isabelle between his arms.

When did they both go to a place he couldn’t follow?

“Yo, sad face,” Jace opened the door without knocking and stared at Alec. There was some kind of spark in his different colored eyes. “Are you free, like, right now?”

Alec considered it. Was he free or not? It wasn’t really necessary for him to read or study, considering that they were in August and the semester wasn’t starting until September. On the other hand, saying yes to Jace without first knowing the details wasn’t a good idea -even worst if you were Alec flipping Lightwood who couldn’t just go back on his word once he said yes. Jace knew this very well and most of the time he used it against him.

“Maybe,” was Alec’s answer, and he placed his book down. “What’s up?”

“Well, I was thinking that maybe you and me can go and have some fun, so…” Jace checked the hallway before entering the room and closing the door behind him. “I kind of got us a place and a band to play for a little. You seemed like you needed some cheering up, and what better way to do so than playing music?”

As grateful as Alec was for Jace’s intention on trying to make him feel better, it wasn’t as simple as that; he couldn’t just go and _play_ in front of whomever. He wasn’t lying to Magnus when he said that he never played for someone other than his siblings.

“Thanks, Jace, but you know I can’t,” Alec crawled to sit at the edge of the bed, so he could be closer to his brother. “I can’t play in front of anyone other than you and Max and Izzy. _What if mom_ -?”

“Who cares about Maryse right now, Alec? She’s not going to be there,” Jace stood in front of Alec and placed his hands on his shoulders. “I promise you that we’re going to be in a private place and just the band is going to be there. No one else.”

Alec couldn’t help but consider it. He really wanted to say yes but at the same time he knew it wasn’t okay. Normally Alec will sing alone in his room twice a month more or less, and it has been not even a week since he last did it. Keeping this in mind, Alec thought that maybe he should move his guitar to Izzy’s room just to keep temptation away from him.

If Maryse was to find him…

Better not even think about it.

Alec looked at Jace dead in the eyes. His brother was holding himself in a confident manner, but it was obvious he was tense all over waiting for Alec’s answer.

“Trust me, Alec,” Jace muttered squeezing his shoulder once before letting go. “I’m your brother. I just want to help somehow.”

There was clear concern and hope of doing something to help in Jace’s eyes. Sometimes Alec forgot that they weren’t biological brothers, even if they didn’t look anything alike. Jace was the son of Robert’s best friend Michael who passed away in a fire when Jace was really young, but he always were a brother to Izzy and Alec, even if they didn’t really knew each other that much.

Liking Jace was easy, because even if he was sometimes an a little stubborn or too adventurous, he cared deeply for his family, and above it all, he was Alec’s best friend. This was not the first time he was offering some help to make him feel better and it was obviously not going to be the last.

Maybe you wouldn’t really see through his tough and cool looks, but Jace had a really kind heart and the only thing Alec needed was that Jace accepted him for who he was. And he did.

Alec snorted, a smile pulling at his lips.

“Fine, but are you sure there’s going to be nobody outside the band?”

Jace rolled his eyes while already pulling Alec on his feet and out of the room. Normally Alec wouldn’t allow anyone manhandle him like that (not anyone could anyways, because he was so flipping tall), but this was Jace and he already agreed. Kind of.

“ _Vamos, hermano_ , don’t worry too much! I already promised!” Jace was laughing when they got to the first floor and stopped in front of the threshold of Maryse’s office. “Maryse, Alec and I are going out for a little.”

“Make sure to come back for dinner,” Maryse didn’t look up from the paperwork she was reading and dismissed them with a hand gesture.

“Will do!”

Back when they were children this would’ve been a pain in Alec’s ass. But now, years later, he didn’t really care that Maryse was so fond of Jace that she didn’t even ask him questions or tried to tell him no. In a way he understood, Jace never had a mother to begin with and his father passed when he was really young. She was trying to give him the affection he lacked when he was a kid.

Alec didn’t mind. In Izzy’s words: he wasn’t warm and fuzzy anyways.

“C’mon, Alec, I’m getting old here,” Jace urged him by pushing him to the front door.

 

“This is your idea of a private place? An _apartment building_?” Alec said gesturing dramatically at the tall building in front of them. It probably had fifteen floors, more or less and it was obviously full of people.

“You’re actually hurting my feelings with all this mistrust, you know that?” it didn’t look that way, since Jace had a shit-eating grin on his face. “We’re going to be on the last floor and the place is soundproof. I think.”

Alec gave his brother a look of complete disbelief, but the blonde only smiled even more and started walking towards the entrance. It made Alec a little uneasy, seeing Jace just sauntering his way without a worry in the world, but he supposed that he had to trust his brother on this one.

The reception was little and empty, and the doorman was leaning on his chair, reading a magazine with his feet crossed at the ankles and plopped on the front desk. An image somewhat typical in movies and TV shows. They just went past him and the man didn’t even blink an eye at them.

Jace punched the button to call the elevator and they quickly went in and then again, Jace pressed the button of the last floor, the sixteenth.

“Are we meeting with the members of your band?” Alec said while staring at the numbers on top of the elevator’s doors that marked in which floor they were.

“Nope. Well, not all of them, at least. And besides, I don’t _have_ a band,” Jace discarded the idea with a gesture. “You’ll see when we get there.”

The thing about Jace was that he never really got attached to anyone or anything, except of course for his family. He was never going to admit that he had a band or that some people were his friends, just because he didn’t like that type of things. Yes, Jace had friends, but only a few were verbally considered as such. These friends were accepted in that category merely because they were Izzy or Alec’s friends too.

Jace’s façade was so well played that nobody could ever think or even dream about him being a little shit. When people saw Jace, they saw _the golden boy_ ; painfully handsome, attractive, talented and charismatic, with his perfect blonde hair and different colored eyes. They saw someone who was easy to talk to and that somehow was able to win everybody’s favor and like, someone who had more friends than fingers in his hands.

Only Alec and Izzy knew that that entire act was only Jace’s way to show that he was there and to try and leave a mark so that someday when he was gone someone could remember about him. Perhaps he was trying to show someone that he could be all these things, but that was beyond him.

The elevator doors opened in front of them and Jace guided Alec through the hallway to a door at the end. There was clearly a doorbell, but Jace decided to knock a couple of times in what sounded like a code.

“What the fuck, Jace? There’s a doorbell _right there_ ,” Alec couldn’t help but point. Jace slapped his hand away and shushed him.

“I know what I’m doing, Alec.”

 _Yes, apparently you’re bringing me to a fucking cult_. It was impossible for Alec’s mind to not go that way when Jace was acting in such a secretive manner and doing things like knocking in code. If his brother idea was to freak him out, well bingo, because he wasn’t far from that at this point.

The door was opened abruptly by no other than Simon Lewis, a friend of theirs and also a guy who was crushing too hard on Isabelle for his own good. A nerd on superior levels. Right now he was wearing a lame blue t-shirt with big white letters that read _kiss the vamp_ under a dark green shirt.

His hair wasn’t really combed, but it somehow suited him, and his dark brown eyes were under his big glasses.

“Jace, Alec! Long time no see,” Simon gave Jace a half hug and shook Alec’s hand, obviously recognizing that he wasn’t as close to Alec as he was to Jace. “So, how are Izzy and Max doing?”

“Isabelle is fine, thanks for asking,” Alec recognized the question for what it really was; nothing but an excuse to talk about his little sister. “Max is okay too.”

Jace held out a laugh.

“Forgive my brother; he’s a little grumpy today.”

“They didn’t call him Alec-Grumpy-Cat-Lightwood back in the day for anything, huh?” Simon said, making Alec frown a little. _What the hell was a grumpy cat?_ Simon laughed between his teeth and moved to give them space to enter the apartment. “Come on in, _mi casa es su casa_.”

Simon’s apartment was pretty organized to Alec’s surprise. The living room, dining room and kitchen were all part of a big room, though it was clearly divided by furniture. Right now the sofa and armchairs were moved to leave space to the instruments, but even then it wasn’t a mess.

“Simon, you have more ginger ale on your fridge than desire for that Isabelle girl,” a girl said with disgust on her face. She came from the kitchen; she was tall and had a dark skin tone that looked great with her dress of flower patterns. “Oh, never mind. I didn’t know your friends arrived.”

“Haha,” Simon said distracting himself with some cables on the ground.

“I’m Maureen Brown. Simon’s friend and ex girlfriend,” there was a teasing tone in her voice, so it was obvious she was okay with that. “He said you guys needed a band, so here I am.”

“I’m Jace Lightwood and this is my brother, Alec,” Jace shook Maureen’s hand and gave her the typical Jace Lightwood smirk that was meant for flirting. _Of course_.

“Thanks for doing this,” Alec said, even though he wasn’t still so convinced of this idea at all. Either way, Maureen came to help them.

“Nice to meet you both. And don’t worry, Alec! Anything for music,” Maureen completely ignored Jace’s flirty ways to smile at Alec. She seemed like a nice girl. “Anyways, what are we playing?”

“How are you with indie, rock, pop and punk?” Alec was surprised Jace remembered all the types of music he listened to and played.

Maureen flashed them a big confident smile. “Try me, Lightwood.”

Maureen positioned herself behind the drums, mentioning in a whisper that normally she plays the keyboard, but that she will make an exception that day. Simon, as if on key, stood from the ground and took the bass. Jace took the keyboard, leaving Alec standing alone in front of them, completely clueless of what to do next.

“C’mon, Alec! There are a guitar and a microphone for you,” Jace pointed to a beautiful red cherry Gibson standing on its stand close to the microphone. “Don’t be shy, man; we won’t boo you if you suck.”

“Yeah, we’re cool people!” Simon said, a big smile pulling at his lips.

“You guys are awful,” Maureen rolled her eyes and gave Alec a comforting smile. “It’s okay, really.”

Alec lifted the guitar in his hands as if it were very fragile and placed himself in front of the microphone. He turned just to tell them a song and when all of them agreed that they knew how to play it, they started.

Alec hadn’t feel so relaxed in a very long time.

 

Magnus was standing at the building’s reception with his arms crossed on his chest and one of his feet tapping at the rhythm of the clock on the wall. He was probably going to ruin his suit with how he was flexing his arms. But he was really nervous. His new premise was half an hour late and he was beginning to question his every move.

Did he say something wrong on the phone? What if she changed her mind? What if someone offered her a better deal? He was going to _combust_ if he didn’t find out soon.

Just when he was about to call Nora to tell her to call her agent to know what the hell was going on, a petit redhead entered the building in a hurry, running with her five inches heels.

“I am SO SORRY!” the redhead said standing before Magnus and trying to catch her breath. She was sweating a little. “We were held up by traffic! I hope that we didn’t cause you any trouble, Mr. Bane.”

Magnus quirked an eyebrow in question. “You can call me Magnus. And it’s alright, really. You must be Clarissa.”

She smiled instantly. If Magnus had to describe her just by her looks -artsy, young and simple, he’ll say that she was a cinnamon roll that needed protection. Her smile, he was almost positive, could probably cure cancer.

“Clary Garroway, yes!” Clary shook his hand with enthusiasm. “My agent and my mom are outside but they’ll be here in a minute. They didn’t want to run.”

“I can certainly understand why. Why don’t we go to my office and Jackie here guides them to us when they arrive?” Magnus proposed, pointing over his shoulder to the receptionist who smiled to Clary at the instant.

“Oh, that sounds great!”

They went on the elevator without saying another word, but Magnus realized that she was really restless; even without _moving_ she was in constant movement. Her feet tapped the floor nervously or her hands played with her bracelets. Sometimes she would twirl a finger with a lock of her orange hair.

She was really young, twenty-one, at most.

“This is your first time being interviewed by a magazine, right?” Magnus tried to do some conversation just to make things easier for both of them.

Clary stared up at him, a smile already changing her features.

“Yes, it is. I’m actually really excited,” Clary bounced a little and gave Magnus the happiest expression he had ever seen in his life. “I mean, of course I’m nervous, but this is all really amazing. I still can’t believe it.”

“You should believe it, biscuit; I’ve seen your work. Your art treat is beyond compare,” the elevator doors opened before them and Magnus gestured for her to go first. “Here at Pandemonium we’re all very happy and excited to have you.”

She flushed a little. It was really funny the way her face looked in contrast to her orange hair. But at the same time it was completely adorable. Although somehow Magnus knew that this petite girl could be very, very dangerous when angry. You couldn’t be an artist and not be kind of dangerous somehow. Maybe he was wrong, but it was something about her that gave him that impression.

“Anyways, I’m here to help you in everything I can, and I promise I won’t ask you to do or say anything that makes you uncomfortable,” they passed in front of a door that led to a bunch of desks from other employees and Magnus waved. “My editing team.”

“Hi, everyone!” Clary waved quickly and kept following Magnus down the hallway. He heard the team replying cheerfully. “Is it okay if I ask you a question, Magnus?”

“I’m not the one here being interviewed, but by all means, go ahead,” Magnus said when they reached the front of his office. Nora was seating on her desk and typing furiously at her keyboard. “Nora, this is Clary Garroway, our rising star. Clary, this is my secretary, diligent and always sweet Nora Rodriguez.”

“It’s great to finally meet you, Clary,” Nora stood from her seat to shake her hand. “I’m just a secretary, but I’d be more than happy to help in any way that I can.”

“Nice to meet you too, Nora!” Clary shook her hand with as much enthusiasm as she showed Magnus earlier. “Thanks, I really appreciate it.”

Magnus smiled. He really liked this girl.

“Shall we?” Magnus opened the door to his office and waited for Clary to go inside, winked to Nora and then followed her in.

Magnus offered her a seat and a glass of water -he was sure she needed it after her little run; and then sat behind his desk with his fingers crossed and his elbows resting on the desk. He was looking as professional as always, with a navy blue pinstripe suit and a vest of the same color over a white shirt. His hair was styled in a pompadour and he was wearing ombre eye shadow. And to finish the outfit, a magenta tie.

He noticed that maybe she was appalled by his appearance; after all he was well dressed, while she was wearing jeans, five inches boots and a green blouse that matched her eyes perfectly.

“What did you want to ask me, biscuit?” Magnus didn’t even notice he was already giving her a pet name, but it was _impossible_ not to.

“Why did you… why did you want to do this so badly? I heard from my agent that you insisted a lot,” Clary moved a little in her seat and stared at Magnus dead in the eye. He could imagine people being actually terrified of that look of fire. “I mean, I’ve had other offers, but you were really _interested_.”

Magnus pretended to think about it. There wasn’t anything to think about, being completely honest -he just enjoyed the drama of it all. He separated his hands from each other and leaned on his chair, studying the redhead with a clinic eye. People said that Magnus sometimes was like a cat; by the way he looked at others. Some said that with a specific lighting could _actually_ mistake his brown eyes from those of a feline.

“Let’s just say that I have a good eye for rising stars,” was his final answer, and he lost all seriousness when he smiled at her.

He wasn’t lying when he said that he was good at seeing good thinks about to rise in fame. Magnus was actually famous between his peers for being the one to predict several super stars rising and sometimes, disappearing. This asset made him both praised and feared in the industry. So many times this little _sixth sense_ of his made others try to overthrow him, with no success at all, of course.

Clary smiled once again.

“I believe you,” she said, crossing her legs and leaning on the armchair. “Thanks for believing in me, too.”

“It’s my pleasure, my dear.”

Not even a minute later, they were joined by Jocelyn Garroway (Clary’s mother) and Dorothea Rollins, Clary’s agent and apparently great friend. Magnus already knew Dorothea for other clients that she had and because of the conversations they had over the phone about Clary, so it was actually a very nice conversation they had on her behalf.

Everything seemed to go according to plan.

 

Magnus office was suddenly filled with people, which wasn’t as often as one could imagine from the head editor of Pandemonium, but he needed people to take notes and to give ideas, so he had to invite some of his employees to the room.

Among those was Elias, a dark skinned and handsome young man that was mostly in charge of the more serious part of the magazine. Magnus always told him he was boring, but mostly just to poke fun at him. There was also Zoe, barely eighteen and working part time; Magnus respected her visions, because she was young and she understood better than anyone what the youth liked these days.

Both were helping him and everybody in the room to determine which way they wanted the interview, photo shoot and design to be. This was mostly just brainstorming, since the real editing and decisions will be made later. This was just a pre meeting in which Clary could determine if she really wanted to do this with Pandemonium and not other magazine.

Magnus wanted to believe he had this cat in the bag.

Although he will _never_ put a cat in a bag. That was terrible.

“ _Mr. Bane, someone here is claiming to be Ms. Garroway’s friend,_ ” Nora informed from the intercom. She sounded much stressed and somewhat scared. Whoever was outside must be very intimidating.

“ _Excuse you! I am Clary’s friend!_ ” A voice yelled on the intercom. It was a feminine voice, and Clary’s head shoot up at the sound of it.

“Oh, yes, she is! Can she come in? I know this is a private meeting, but she’s an expert on all of this fashion things and such,” Clary’s puppy eyes were clear to Magnus and he let out a little laugh at that. Jocelyn was rolling her eyes.

“If you can promise she’s not going to reveal anything to the public,” Magnus permitted and Clary’s smile grew even wider. “ _Just_ because I like you, biscuit.”

“She will, I swear!”

That was enough for Magnus.

“Nora, darling, let her in,” Magnus said pressing one button on the intercom. A clicking sound came from outside and suddenly a latina model was walking into his office.

She was wearing seven inch heels and a very tight black dress. Her dark hair fell in waves over her shoulders and her eyes, even if they were as dark, were shining like diamonds. She had brown skin and red lipstick well applied on her lips. Even if she was really, _really_ beautiful, Magnus couldn’t help the feeling that he wasn’t attracted to her the way he normally would.

Actually, she looked pretty similar.

“Iz!” Clary called standing from her armchair to go and greet her with a hug.

“Hi there, _pequeño petirrojo_ ,” she squeezed her between her arms but let go pretty quickly to stare around the room. All eyes were on her. She approached the desk with confident steps. “Are you Magnus Bane?”

“You are not mistaken, darling.”

She stared for a while, her expression not changing even the slightest. Magnus was good at staring contests, so he did his best to stare at her just as intensely.

And suddenly, she was smiling.

“I’m Isabelle Lightwood! I’ve been dying to meet you,” Isabelle offered her hand to shake, but Magnus listened to his gut and instead pressed a soft kiss on her knuckles.

“I could say the same thing, Isabelle. Your older brother and I had some interesting meetings,” Magnus admitted with an amused smile on his face. The young woman imitated the gesture with the same of her own. “But as much as I would love to chat, we still have some work to do.”

“Yes! Would you help us, Iz?” Clary glanced at her friend with a hopeful smile that could convince the toughest.

Isabelle touched her friend’s face with her knuckles -or maybe it was more accurate to say that she grazed her skin. There was real love in those dark eyes of hers.

“Anything for you, _petirrojo_.”

 

After what Magnus could call a very productive day, he took his briefcase and jacket and left the building of Pandemonium not without saying goodbye to everybody first.

It was impossible for him not to show a big smile on his face. He liked Clary a little too much for his own sake ( _God_ , he could flipping _adopt_ that little biscuit) and he even liked her family and friends. Perhaps his liking for Isabelle came from another source as well, but that was only his secret to keep.

Just when he was about to reach the sidewalk, a hand appeared out of nowhere and tangled itself on Magnus’ elbow. This hand had a nice manicure and some silver rings.

“I was waiting for you!” Isabelle looked up at Magnus with a smirk on her lips. “Great work today, by the way. I’m happy you’re the one taking care of my _petirrojo_.”

“ _Saludos_ , Isabelle,” Magnus tried to sound a little amused but it didn’t work with her. Instead of pushing, Magnus smiled back. “What can I say? I’m pleasured to do so.”

“As much as I would love to talk about Clary all day, there are more pressing matters that require my attention,” Isabelle announced, her dark eyes going somewhere Magnus couldn’t find with his own. “How did you meet Alec?”

Magnus found really interesting how she was quick to assume that Magnus met Alec and not her other brother, Jace. Perhaps Isabelle was just wishing for it to be true and was trying to force destiny with her voice (and honestly, Magnus was almost certain destiny would actually listen to her) and bring this all together.

He considered that just standing there in front of the building wasn’t exactly nice for a little chit chat, but he wanted to go home and moving the conversation to another location could prove to defeat the purpose.

“Let’s just say that his voice dragged me in,” there was no better way to put it than that.

“You heard him sing?!” Isabelle was quick to assume, which surprised Magnus a little bit too much. “That’s unbelievable!”

“It was an accident, dear. But yes, I had the pleasure,” Magnus said.

“An accident? How do you mean?”

He decided that they indeed needed to move this conversation, so he suggested at least going and sitting on a nearby bench. Isabelle didn’t detach herself from his elbow, but Magnus didn’t have problems with that.

Now sitting on the bench, he proceeded to tell the story. Isabelle almost didn’t interrupt him, except for asking for some details or to make something clear. She was concentrated on him a hundred percent.

Magnus could see why Alec loved her so much.

When the story ended, Isabelle stayed silent for a while, her mind wandering places Magnus probably wasn’t allowed to go to. She was as beautiful as you could be allowed to be. Magnus imagined that was a problem for the Lightwood brothers and held back a laugh.

“That sounds just like Alec, yes,” Isabelle said turning to look at Magnus. There was sadness in her smile now. “Please don’t get my brother wrong. He… he has a lot of demons to fight before accepting many things about himself.”

“I could see that. Don’t worry; it wasn’t my place to say anything to him anyways.”

“Oh, please don’t say that! Alec might deny it, but he needs all the support he can get. So thank you,” Isabelle took both of Magnus’ hands and stared at him with gratitude painted all over her face.

Magnus wanted to cover her with a blanket and put her on his bag.

“It was my pleasure, Isabelle,” Magnus squeezed her fingers gently in his palms.

He could actually see himself being friends with her. Isabelle looked fierce and stunningly beautiful; with a sense of fashion most will kill for. She was independent and strong so she could protect her brothers at all costs. You didn’t meet this type of girls often.

Isabelle stood suddenly.

“I have an idea!” she announced. Magnus wondered if all her ideas came out of nowhere. “There’s a party this Friday and you need to come.”

“Come again, dear?”

“You have to come to this party we’re going on Friday. Alec needs a friend and having you around would be cool,” Isabelle was moving from one side to another, too excited for her own good. “Pretty please?”

First of all, Magnus never said no to a party. Second, even if Isabelle seemed oddly interested and uniting him with his brother, he couldn’t really deny that there was something appealing about the whole thing.

Magnus sighed. He couldn’t think clearly at the moment.

“Alright. But only because you’re really nice and your brother is _nice_ ,” he said that with an undertone that got her laughing.

“Give me your number! I’ll be in contact soon so I can send you the address and all that boring stuff,” Isabelle’s phone suddenly was magically in her hand. “But you can’t tell Alec anything about this. You don’t know me, understood?”

Magnus raised an eyebrow.

“An explanation for such secretiveness would be nice, Isabelle.”

“You will know what you need to know _when_ you need to know,” was her cryptic answer, which left Magnus rather confused.

Having really no objections whatsoever, Magnus agreed. They recited their numbers to each other and parted ways. Magnus was incredibly excited for Friday and to see what this alliance with Isabelle Lightwood could do for him and, obviously, Alec.

 

“That was great, wasn’t it?” Jace asked for the umpteenth time when they finally arrived home half an hour before dinner.

“For the millionth time, yes, Jace, it was great,” Alec said not without fondness in his tone.

He wasn’t lying. Alec was relaxed from head to toe and he was _happy_. Crazy what some hours of singing could do to him. Alec felt in the pit of his stomach that this felt so right, but deep down he knew it wasn’t that easy.

“Well, you’re welcome,” Jace patted his shoulder lightly and walked past him towards the stairs.

“Yeah, thanks.”

A minute later, with a glass full of water in his hand, Alec trailed his way behind his brother to the second floor and then his own room. He was rather sweaty after all the action, so he needed a serious shower.

Alec pulled his shirt over his head and threw his phone on the bed, when an idea rise to his mind out of nowhere.

Alec took his phone again from the bed and started typing a message for Magnus. _I think you’re right about me and singing. I went to play with some friends and it was great_. Just when he was about to send it, he realized that it was _wrong_.

Suddenly appalled by his own decisions, Alec erased the whole thing and typed another one more… _fitting_.

_So how was work?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1) Yes, Clary is Clarissa Garroway. Her father is Valentine, but in this AU he and Jocelyn divorced and she got married to Luke some years later. Clary decided to take his last name.  
> 2) ALL the Lightwood kids speak spanish. ALL. Alec. Izzy. Jace. Max.  
> 3) I'm not sure about other ships in this. I really want to add more but I'm not sure who should I pair with whom. Got any ideas? Help me out, pls!  
> 4) Petirrojo means robin in spanish. It's a little bird that is so cute and Izzy likes calling Clary that.  
> [Magnus' Makeup.](http://www.prettydesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Ombre-Eye-Makeup-2.jpg) (I totally forgot to add this before smh)  
> Thanks for reading! Remember you can find me (and talk to me!) @mattlightwood on tumblr!  
> Cheers and I'll see you soon!


	5. Waves come crashing down

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for taking so long! Sooo many shit is going on right now but hopefully everything will be okay soon! I'm absolutely excited right now for season two like you've got no idea. Also, I have made so many friends lately on tumblr and I've been busy interacting with them, so you can blame them! lmao
> 
> Anyways, this chapter isn't as long but I hope you like it!

Magnus pulled his eyes off his computer screen to look at his phone. Isabelle just sent him another text with too many emojis to count; she was apparently trying to explain why being a forensic pathologist was actually fashionable as fuck. He was impressed by her career choice, but Magnus just could not see anything fashionable in a corpse.

A second later, another message arrived. _Are you ignoring me, Magnus Bane??_

He was laughing so hard he couldn’t take his phone to respond her message and another arrived a minute later.

_I’m going to hunt you down if you keep ignoring me._

Hoping that his laughter wasn’t as loud to be heard in the whole building, Magnus picked his phone up and texted her back. _While I do love and respect your career choice, I’ll have to disagree; there’s nothing fashionable on something dead._

_And then WE girls are the pussies._

Magnus let out the most undignified sound out of his mouth.

In the course of four days, Magnus and Isabelle were as close as best friends, exchanging text messages every day almost all the time. She proved to be not only beautiful and fierce, but kind, funny and lovely. Besides, she provided funny pictures of her brothers without him asking. Bless her heart.

But Isabelle wasn’t the only Lightwood appearing on his phone every day. Alec proved to be not as cold and serious as he wanted Magnus to believe. Even if Alec texted just a little every day, it was obvious that he was trying to be as friendly and less awkward as possible. Their conversations were mostly about their days or what were they doing at the moment, nothing to crazy or intimate.

It was fine by Magnus. Alec was fun to talk to. And besides, every time he got bored at work he will send Magnus a picture of himself in the most dramatic and exaggerated position as possible.

Like right now. Alec sent him a message saying: _Dad said there were only five documents to read and approve. They’re actually fifty._ That was followed by a picture of Alec resting his head on a pile of paperwork, his cheek against the paper, his eyes rolled out and his mouth open, as if he were dead.

 _Well, well. This dead thing I don’t mind_ , Magnus thought giggling under his breath. He quickly replied with a laughing emoji and a cheering message before answering Izzy, who was probably going to hunt him down for real.

Magnus wasn’t going to deny how incredibly cute he found this side of Alexander. This also made him realize that they haven’t seen each other since Saturday. Isabelle he saw because of her friendship with Clary, whom she was working really close with since Monday. He was so busy with this interview and all the details that he got to work early and got home late.

The Chairman was starting to gain a strong dislike for his new schedule.

“ _Mr. Bane, some color samples have arrived for you at the reception, should I get them now?_ ” Nora’s voice came from the intercom. She was probably doing something else because she sounded distant.

Magnus stood from his desk.

“No, don’t worry. I’m going myself,” Magnus said putting on his jacket and shrugging to accommodate it on his shoulders. “Thank you, Nora.”

Magnus left his office and passed Nora’s desk to cross the hallways to the elevator. Everybody in Pandemonium was busy working on their respective parts of the magazine, even more so those who were working with him on Clary’s article. The next issue wasn’t coming out until September, but everybody knew better than to procrastinate.

What Magnus loved the most about his workplace was the constant aura of love and support. Because yes, maybe Magnus sometimes yelled (and got yelled at) at the head of the sales department, but at the end of the day all the fuss was about them trying to do something good together.

But back to the point, working in Pandemonium helped him in many ways, with his self-esteem and confidence, in learning to love himself for all the things he was. Nobody judged him for his looks, or the way he moved or how he expressed himself. People around him found Magnus interesting, and even somewhat royal.

The front desk was as always occupied by the diligent and charming Jacqueline -AKA Jackie. But she wasn’t alone.

There was a man in his forties standing in front of her desk. He was bald -most likely out of choice; he was clean dressed in a dark suit and although he was whispering, Magnus was able to hear him clearly from where he stood in front of the elevator doors.

“I’m looking for Clarissa Morgenstern,” he demanded. There was something about his tone that was intimidating yet charming at the same time. Too bad for him, he was dealing with Jackie.

She stood her ground, smiling like she owned the place (and she kind of did).

“Sir, there’s no one here under that name,” Jackie said while pretending to look something in her computer. Jackie was aware that this man was referring to Clary, but she wasn’t about to give him information about it. “Perhaps you’re in the wrong place, sir?”

“Clarissa Fray, then. She must be here and I need to see her,” he insisted and the more he tried the more he leaned over Jackie’s desk.

“I’m so sorry, sir. There is no Clarissa here as far as I know.”

The man stood and stared there for a while, looking at Jackie dead in the eye, obviously trying to either scare her or to try to see if she was lying. Her smile just got bigger and she stared back, a brow lifted in question as if daring him to do something.

Finally the stranger scoffed and left the building making a lot of noise with every step that he made. Magnus used this chance to get close to the front desk.

“Having fun, my dear Jacqueline?” Magnus leaned against her desk, a smile pulling at his lips.

Jackie was this stunning blonde woman with brown eyes and red lips. She was in her thirties but that was a secret (a secret Magnus knew because of that one time she got drunk at a party). She always wore her straight hair in a tight ponytail and her suits clean and elegantly.

“Oh, absolutely,” Jackie said with a laugh and searched her desk for a folder. “You’re here for the color samples, Mr. Bane?”

“In fact, yes.”

“Okay.” Jackie looked around in her pile of stuff for a little more. “Here! I hope you don’t mind that I took a look.”

“Of course not, dearest,” Magnus said, still smiling at her. “Thank you, Jackie.”

“Anytime, Mr. Bane.”

Magnus was already retreating to the elevator when he stopped and turned on his heels to look at the receptionist once again.

“Oh, and Jackie,” Magnus fidgeted with the folder in his hands, “if that man comes back when Clary is around, you tell him that she’s not here. If he gives you trouble, call security, understood?”

Jackie was obviously surprised that Magnus heard her conversation with the strange man, because she didn’t say anything, just nodded in response. Happy with just that, Magnus walked away to the elevator doors, so he can go back to his office to check on the samples and keep working on Clary’s article.

 

“So, Magnus! You going to the party tomorrow?” Clary was sitting in front of him on one of his armchairs in a very graceless position. She was wearing her hair in a messy ponytail and a denim overall with an olive t-shirt.

“Your dear friend Isabelle is insisting. And the devil knows I can’t say no to beautiful women,” Magnus answered smiling a little. He wasn’t going for Isabelle exactly, but whatever. He was more busy deciding between two shades of orange that were almost exactly the same but completely different for him.

“She sure is something else, right?” Clary asked, a fond smile pulling at her lips.

Magnus gave her a look, just to find that Clary was staring to nowhere, her green eyes unfocused and lost in something that only she was able to see. That was the look™, he was sure of it. It was beautiful, seeing Clary losing herself at the mere mention of her best friend, and it was more interesting for Magnus seeing something that was hidden but so clearly there.

“Do you like her, biscuit?” Magnus couldn’t help but ask.

Clary didn’t turn to him, didn’t focus her eyes. She stayed exactly like she was, walking around in her own world.

“I do. A lot,” Clary admitted absentmindedly.

Magnus stared at her with a mischievous smile on his face. He was doing everything in his power not to start giggling.

Clary came to her senses and suddenly she gasped and jumped so hard that she fell on her ass on the ground.

“Like a FRIEND! I mean like a FRIEND! I like Izzy like a FRIEND!” She clarified standing from the ground and looking at Magnus dead in the eye. Clary didn’t look so sure about that.

“Whatever you say, biscuit,” Magnus conceded. “It’s almost time to go, why don’t we finish this quickly and go home?”

That seemed to calm Clary a little. She smiled. “Okay.”

 

_What a disgrace. Just look at him._

Alec didn’t last long enough. After all these years hearing everybody’s bullshit and opinions he thought he was strong enough to endure almost everything that could be thrown at him. But he couldn’t.

It was a day like any other at the office, just that it started a bit too different.

His father was having some visitors at the office, some potential business partners of some sort. And while that wasn’t abnormal or a problem, the thing was that it was almost impossible not to notice a certain individual standing with the group of guests.

It was a guy. Probably in his mid twenties. Five feet seven at most. For the color of his skin and his accent, it was easy to guess that he was latino. Brown curly hair adorned his head and a very tight tailored black suit covered his body. The kid was a great thing to stare at in Alec’s opinion.

The thing is, there was something about him that…

“Oh no, a gay kid,” Robert whispered under his breath when he was standing beside Alec. He sounded annoyed to the bone.

Alec didn’t make comments. He wasn’t allowed to anyways. He could bare this for a little longer until the visitors were gone and all this conversation forgotten forever.

The kid’s name was Tobias, and Robert kept whispering nasty things about him the whole time, but Alec was strong enough. He could handle it. But then, oh _then_.

“What a disgrace. Just look at him.” Robert pointed in Tobias’ direction, where he was laughing and drinking coffee with some co-workers. Tobias was really carefree, touching others while talking and gesturing wildly.

 _Disgrace_? That word was some kind of trigger to Alec. He himself was gay. Maybe his parents didn’t know about it, but he was sure that, if he were to come out, some of the words he will hear would be _disgrace_ , _dishonor_ and _disgusting_. And while he knew, and while this word wasn’t directed at himself… it _hurt_.

“Excuse me, I have some things I forgot to deal with in my office,” Alec lied and didn’t wait for his father’s answer. He ran as fast as he could.

 

With Clary now gone and part of the job done (he finally chose between those two damn shades of orange!), Magnus was finally able to go home and at a decent hour, just to make it better. The Chairman was going to be absolutely pleased -or pissed, because he was having awful mood problems because of Magnus, apparently. One cannot please everybody, after all.

Magnus was so excited to go home that he skipped the elevator entirely and ran down the stairs like a kid in school after the bell rings. And when he reached the reception, he found Jackie staring at something with a worried expression.

Or rather, someone.

Alexander was sitting at the reception with his head between his hands. He was wearing a suit that was a chaotic mess at the moment, and his jacket lay carelessly on his lap. Treating a suit like that was a sin.

But Magnus couldn’t worry so much about this fashion travesty. Alec’s expression was one to worry about. There was a mix of so much stuff and Magnus wondered how anyone could cope with so much at the same time. Pain, sadness, anger, fear. All clearly written in Alec’s face.

Magnus walked up to him slowly, as if Alec was a scared cat that could run away from him at any opportunity.

“Alexander?”

Alec gave him a short look before closing his eyes and pressing his hands even deeper into his skull.

Magnus decided that Alec will talk when he felt the need to, so he sat beside him in silence.

He was feeling a little bad for being happy to see Alec, but at the end of the day, even if Alec was going through something or not, just considering that he thought to come to Magnus was nice enough to make him smile. Alec was trusting in him, even if he himself couldn’t see it yet.

And suddenly Alec is standing up.

“Can we take a walk?” Alec asked, his desperate hazel eyes begging Magnus in the silence.

“Of course, Alec.” Magnus waited for Alec to move. How could he say no? Alec was looking like a giant smitten kitten looking for a hug.

Alec didn’t look at Magnus again and proceeded to leave the building. Magnus said goodbye quickly to Jackie over his shoulder and rushed behind Alec.

The sun was close to come down, and its rays fell on Alexander giving him this stupidly beautiful aura. His eyes were shining in a shade of gold and his messy hair was blown by the wind. And image that was worthy of a corny Disney classic. Like the prince charming the heroine has been waiting her whole life.

Except he didn’t look as strong and brave as someone will expect.

Magnus finally joined him on the sidewalk where he stood alone and immobile.

“I trust you, Magnus,” Alec whispered, and his voice was so quiet and soft that Magnus almost thought it was the wind. “Is that okay?”

Magnus’ heart clenched with so many emotions. Alec’s voice was so secure but so little when he asked if he could trust Magnus. He wanted to take a blanket and cover him with it so he could protect him from this world. A little bit too much, but completely fair at this point.

He quickly composed his expression.

“It is, Alec. You can trust me,” that was something really irresponsible to say, but Magnus meant it.

And Alec started walking. He was literally going in the opposite direction of their houses, far away from the crowds of the city, there where you could find parks and the lake. Peace and quiet.

“I’m…,” Alec begun saying but fell silent immediately. He was biting so hard at his lips Magnus was worried he might start bleeding soon.

Magnus wasn’t sure exactly of what was going on inside Alec’s mind, but he _knew_. He knew the best politic right now was to wait. To give Alec time to process everything that was troubling him, to give him the minutes he needed to find the right words and the strength to say whatever he felt the need to.

They were really far from Pandemonium, almost reaching the lake, when Alec took a deep breath.

“I’m gay, Magnus,” Alec confessed. Magnus noticed he wasn’t blushing or showing any signs of nervousness.

 _Well, you don’t say…_ Magnus' subconscious mind whispered.

Before he could say anything Alec kept talking really fast, as if he was trying to not give Magnus the chance to say anything about it.

“And lately it’s been bothering me a lot? Not in the sense that _Oh I hate being gay_ , more like _I hate having to hide that I’m gay_ ,” Alec now started fidgeting with this hands and gesturing savagely, “like today I was at the office and this cute kid was there and my father… he, uhm, said some things that… _ugh_.”

Magnus carefully placed a hand on his shoulder. “I understand.”

Alec’s eyes were red from all the things he was trying to hold inside, but his little smile, the one he was dedicating Magnus at the moment, was somehow real. And Magnus was happy to make him smile in such a hard moment.

“It’s just that I’m gay. And I should be able to say things and defend others from stuff like this, but… I can’t even _consider_ it,” Alec said and sighed. He was so tall but so little. Magnus couldn’t take his eyes off him. “I feel so trapped, Magnus.”

The temptation to say that it was the same with his dream was really strong, but after years of dealing with the world and different people on his own, Magnus knew that this wasn’t the right moment or place to start a pep talk. Alec didn’t need a pep talk. He needed a friend and someone to listen to him.

“Sadly we can’t be the defenders of the world,” Magnus pointed. There was a sad smile on his face. “And Alec, before you protect others you need to protect yourself. You can’t go around fighting for others if you can’t do the same for you.”

“So you say I should come out first?”

Magnus was shaking his head half the sentence. “No. What I’m saying is that you need to make sure you’re okay before getting out of your way for others.

“Do you need to come out? Most likely the answer is yes, but only when you’re ready,” Magnus resolved. The lake was now at their left, and Magnus flopped gracefully on a bench. Alec quickly followed. “Believe it or not, I’m not exactly straight. Oh, I know, shocking.”

Alec laughed a genuine laugh.

“What I’m trying to say is that I know what I’m saying. I think. And my advice for you, mister Lightwood, is to wait until you’re ready,” Magnus said and now he place his hand over Alec’s without thinking about it. “But if you want to fight for what you believe before that, then do it. But think about yourself too.”

The silence sat with them. It wasn’t an uncomfortable silence. It was absolutely nice, considering everything. The wind caressing their faces, the lake forming waves (or the lake-y version) licking the sand. It was such a lovely day and the sun was already coming down on them, painting everything in orange and pink.

“Thank you, Magnus,” Alec turned to look at him in the eye. The gold in Alec’s eyes was the most beautiful color Magnus had ever seen, “you’re a great friend.”

In any other situation Magnus would’ve felt like hearing the words _you_ and _friend_ in the same sentence was a tragedy. But this one time it was okay. Because he wanted to be Alec’s friend. Alec needed a friend and Magnus could be one.

“Anyways. Tomorrow there’s this party Izzy is making me go, are you free tomorrow night?” Alec asked and there was a speck of hope in his voice. “I’m not really a party guy and having you around will be nice.”

Magnus was already invited to this party, but Alec didn’t need to know about that.

He laughed.

“I would love to, Alexander.”

“Great.”

Alec stared at the lake and the sun coming down on it, his profile the most beautiful thing Magnus had ever seen. Without thinking about it, he sighed. Maybe doom wasn’t as far away as he thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please remember you can talk to me at my tumblr! ([@Mattlightwood](http://mattlightwood.tumblr.com)!) (I'll totes give you a cookie if you talk to me ;)))
> 
> I hope I can finish next chapter faster, tho I don't know because next chapter is the party and I want that to be... special, you feel me? Lmao. Anyways, I'll see you next time! c:


	6. Lighting and sounds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day has arrived. Party time!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I _know_ what you're thinking. _Tate, where the fuck have you been?? What took you so long??_ and there are two different answers to those questions and I'd like to believe that both are reasonable. Number one is that I've been having a hard time dealing with my illness and my family problems and I haven't been on my fullest, sadly. Number two is that I suck at being constant and my procrastination abilities are beyond great.
> 
> Anyways, please enjoy this chapter and forgive any typos whatsoever. I haven't exactly proof-read this lol.

What is better than having a meeting at first time in a Friday morning? A lot of things, of course.

But Magnus couldn’t be bothered by anything in this particular day, because everything was just amazingly wonderful and having something to distract himself was good. As much as he wanted this day to turn into night, he knew that if not distracted, he will be pulling at his own hair out of anxiety.

Because today was the party that Isabelle kept talking about. The one Alexander himself invited him to.

Maybe he was being a little over excited about it, but it was okay. It made Magnus feel a little younger.

“So I’m thinking, the magazine is being published next month, that is, September, when fall is finally coming.” Magnus stopped to look around the concentrated faces in the room. “I suggest the theme of the next issue is centered on that, also because it goes well with dear Clary’s hair.”

Clary, who was sitting by his side, giggled a little.

“I suppose it’s good to bring some fall related paintings to the photo shoot, then?” Dot, Clary’s agent, asked.

“You are correct, Dorothea. Maybe the article is more about Clary, but we certainly will require some of her paintings around.” Magnus pressed a button and the presentation on the screen in front of them changed.

The meeting followed suit with more arrangements and brainstorms on any type of things. About the cover, the articles, the pictures, the content in general. Clary was going to be the cover story, so it was important to review everything they had to work on; if everything went well, Magnus won’t have to bother with much more than how many re-printings they’ll need.

Magnus was surprised when Dorothea gave him full control of the launch party for the magazine. That meant that Magnus will have to organize the whole thing and choose decorations, the catering service, the music, organize the guest list and just too many stuff that being another man, would’ve been quite annoying.

Point of fact: Magnus loved organizing parties.

Before becoming the head editor of _Pandemonium_ , Magnus used to work as the assistant of some big party organizer, and he quite enjoyed his time way back when. He was already tremendously excited to start planning, but the party was still far away and there were more important things that required his immediate attention.

One of those was tonight’s party. Well, not really, but he couldn’t stop thinking about it; good thing about being Magnus Bane: multitasking came naturally.

An hour later, the meeting was finally over. Dorothea and the other members of the table stood and left, except for Clary.

“Something bothering you, biscuit?” Magnus questioned while organizing his papers and just gathering his things. He needed to arrange the whole photo shoot for next week but he wasn’t in a hurry, so he could listen to whatever Clary had in mind.

Clary shook her head. “No, not at all. Great work today.”

“Thank you, biscuit. You too.” Magnus stared at Clary standing up and walking towards the door. “You know you can talk to me, right?”

She stopped and Magnus could see her clenching her hand when holding the door open.

“I know, I know. See you tonight!” And then she was gone.

Magnus wasn’t an expert on the ladies department (not in the necessary way in this exact situation), but he was sure that something was eating at Clary’s brain.

Understanding that Clary will come to him if she felt it necessary, Magnus shrugged, finished gathering his stuff and walked to his office to make some very pressing calls.

 

Hanging up on his last assignment of the day was both a big relief and the beginning of more nerves. Now that he was free to go home, Magnus was already thinking about his outfit for the night and imagining way too many situations in the matter of seconds. It was quite unlike him to imagine himself in the middle of the dance floor with a whole martini on his hair and clothes. Normally he will have more positive predictions.

Suitcase in hand, Magnus rushed out of the building and went to buy a coffee on his way home. Apparently his excitement was quite obvious because Jackie couldn’t help but throw a little “ _Have a nice evening, Magnus!_ ” in a really suggestive tone.

Magnus forced himself not to stare at Alec’s house when he finally arrived. If he ran into Isabelle by any chance, he knew she wasn’t going to stop teasing him for hours. (She spent the whole day sending him teasing texts, to the point that he had to turn his phone off during the meeting). He loved her already, but he couldn’t let Clary’s representatives think that he wasn’t adequately focused on his job.

The Chairman received him at the door with big meows and purrs. The cat was obviously way too happy to see Magnus home earlier, and he couldn’t help but scoop the munchkin cat off the ground on his way to the kitchen.

“Let’s see, you are probably hungry, aren’t you, my little fluffy friend?” Magnus said throwing his suitcase in the couch. His kitchen was clean and less used than it should, given the fact that Magnus ate mostly outside or the food was delivered to him.

His little cat meowed at the mention of food, because the little bastard seemed to only care about learning that and his own name.

“I’m in a good mood, so I’m going to be generous, but you better behave, Chairman, because I have an interesting night ahead and I don’t need you leaving fur around or breaking stuff, understood?”

Chairman Meow simply purred in response, already waiting for his food.

“Alright, then.”

 

Alec is once again surprised by the amount of paperwork on his desk. How can someone fill over fifty documents and have even more waiting for them in the morning? Where was this magical place that created paperwork out of thin air? Alec wanted to go there and murder the one responsible.

Just reading the papers Alec was able to understand that these were on his desk because of how unimportant and boring they were: just the ones Robert himself couldn’t be bothered to take care of. Alec was always given the paperwork concerning the taxes or receipts of food, coffee, furniture and everything that could be bought for the company’s employees’ convenience.

Alec knew that Robert was just a door away, but either way pulled his phone out of his pocket and stared at the lock screen for a whole minute. There was a picture of Izzy, Jace, Max and him, smiling at the camera while Alec embraced the three of them in his arms. That picture was from Max’s birthday some weeks ago.

Max was already fourteen. It was a hard idea to grasp sometimes.

In the end, Alec decided to text Magnus.

_Hey. Boring myself to death with paperwork. Hbu?_

Normally there would be an immediate response, but this time nothing came. Alec’s first thoughts were that maybe Magnus was busy, but the second ideas that crossed his mind weren’t as generous to him.

_Maybe I’m boring to him._

_Maybe he’s annoyed._

_Maybe he changed his mind about tonight._

_Maybe I’m being too pushy._

_Maybe I shouldn’t have told him I’m gay._

_Maybe…_

Maybe he was exaggerating. He was most likely turning things around because of how nervous he felt; well, to be fair, Alec always did that, nervous or not. After living under some level of expectation and almost little to none recognition for his actions and achievements for years, Alec was already used to torture himself with intrusive thoughts on his insecurities.

After five minutes of waiting for a response, he decided that it was better to keep working and let things happen alone.

It was only two hours later when his phone vibrated with a signal of a text.

_Sorry, Alec. I was busy with a meeting. Still bored?_

So after all his first assumption was correct. If Magnus was really bothered or annoyed by him was still to be seen.

_A little. I can’t wait for tonight._

It was already too late for Alec when he hit send. The amount of regret pilling in his chest was so massive he thought he was about to faint or have a panic attack. It was such an innocent remark, _I can’t wait for tonight_ , and yet again it could hide such a deep and strong meaning.

He just couldn’t help it. It came out, it was sent, and that was that.

Magnus’ response came before he could start panicking (even more).

_Same here. It would be nice to have a night out with friends._

That’s right. _Friends_. It was easy to forget that they were friends and therefore worrying about saying stupid things or annoying each other wasn’t an easy task. I mean, of course, but the thing about being friends with someone was sometimes understanding that maybe your friend was going to be dumb at times.

And Magnus looked like the type to understand (and don’t mind) dumb people as much as others. Alec was living proof of that.

Hours after lunch and many more paperwork later, Robert came into his office, glasses on and documents in hands. Even when walking around, Robert Lightwood was checking documents and working nonstop.

“You can go home early, Alec. Your sister said it was _vital_ to have you back as soon as possible,” Robert said and by the look on his face, you could easily tell that he was under some kind of threat. “I’ll see you tomorrow. I hope.”

With a _good luck_ glare Robert left the office, his attention once again on the paperwork.

_Why are you still at work? ¿Si se puede saber?_

_I’m not sure what to wear._

Guess who the sender of the first text was and who the second.

 

Izzy throws for the umpteenth time a shirt on Alec’s bed. In the mattress there’s already _at least_ twenty other shirts that she had placed on his chest for two seconds before throwing them away. The most concerning thing about this whole situation was that half of those shirts were new, recently bought by Isabelle that same morning.

“Izzy, the green one was okay,” Alec tried but his sister already threw another shirt away. “I don’t understand what the whole fuss is about.”

“You need to look nice. And you usually don’t understand me so I don’t know why we are having this discussion,” Izzy remarked and threw one more shirt.

“You know this little obsession for making me look nice it’s suspicious.”

“ _Bueno, perdóname_ for trying to help you, Alec.”

“I think she’s trying to hook you up, bro,” Jace pointed appearing magically in the threshold. He was already all dressed up in a pine green button-down shirt and some nice black pants. He was also wearing a leather jacket.

“You don’t say,” Alec whispered.

“ _Fine_ then. Wear this if being a mess makes you so happy,” Izzy took a denim shirt from the pile on the mattress and flung it at him. “We’re off in twenty so hurry up.”

This turned out not to be true, because even if their ride arrived twenty minutes after what she said, they ended up having to wait twenty more for Izzy to be ready. This time was spent in the living room, watching Max playing Nintendo and screaming at the screen and the characters in it. Simon, who brought his van and Clary with him, was yelling excitedly too.

When Izzy finally appeared at the living room, she was wearing a tight long-sleeve black dress, her dark hair free in magnificent waves and high heels. Alec didn’t have the ability to describe makeup, but coming from Izzy it was obviously amazing and beautiful.

Simon and Clary were obviously pretty stunned by his sister, but Alec decided it wasn’t a good idea to poke fun at them.

“You look great, sis! But next time, let me do your hair,” Max said pausing his game. Nobody knew outside of this group that fourteen year old Max was quite the _fashionista_. “And your nails. Oh my gosh what are those?”

“Shush, you brat!” Izzy scolded him with a smile on her face. “Let’s go. We’re late already.”

“It’s a party, Izzy. One can never be late,” Jace told her. “You know what they say, ¡ _La noche aún es joven_!”

“The van is outside. C’mon,” Simon beckoned holding Clary’s hand to go outside.

“¡ _Diviértanse_!” Max said when they all left the house.

 

Magnus fixed his hair once more before leaving the bathroom. Tonight he was sporting blue highlights on his hair, glittery makeup, blue pants and a black t-shirt. It was quite odd for Magnus Bane to wear t-shirts, but in this case it was actually a good idea. Over the t-shirt he was wearing a black blazer that turned to blue at the bottom.

“Okay, Chairman, my uber will be here in five, so you better start setting your mind in good boy mode,” Magnus said to his cat, who was looking at him from the ground. Magnus wondered if having black nail polish wasn’t a little bit too much. “Do you think going so dark is okay? One meow for ‘yes’ and two for ‘no’.”

The Chairman meowed long once, as if he was tired of giving Magnus fashion advice. This was probably the tenth time Magnus asked for the cat’s opinion on his outfit or look in general.

“Thank you, Chairman.” Magnus stopped when a honk came from outside. “That must be my uber. Your food is on the kitchen. Remember to behave.”

Magnus leaned to scratch his head behind his ears before quickly picking up his phone and house key and leaving the house. Something told him the Lightwoods were already gone, and as if on cue, a text message arrived once he sat in the back seat of his uber.

Isabelle sent him a picture of Alec, his back to the camera, trying on a shirt in front of the mirror. The shirt was of a wine color, although he doubted that was his last choice. It didn’t look like something he’ll wear. There were also too many emojis to count, but Magnus only laughed. If she pretended to send some kind of specific message with those it definitely didn’t come across for Magnus.

As any other Friday night, the streets were filled with people going to different places with probably the same goal: have fun. Magnus could see from the windows long lines in front of restaurants and clubs, people just hanging around drinking, chatting and having fun regardless of the place they were standing; some people didn’t need fancy locations for a Friday night party.

Once the car stopped Magnus knew for a fact that the club Isabelle invited him to was exactly that: fancy. _Shades_ was one of those clubs that required memberships _and_ a place on a large waiting list for all the people that actually went there. Just getting a date for a private party took months. How Isabelle got into a club like this was beyond him.

Pandemonium already wrote some articles about the place and some parties that happened there, but Magnus never visited for himself. He had this stupid policy about never going to a club for work so as to not take the fun from it, so he always sent some intern or other writers; no one said no to the opportunity of going to this club anyways, even if the payment for the job wasn’t exactly good.

Somehow Magnus wasn’t surprised to find Isabelle, gorgeous as ever, waiting for him next to one of the guards in front of the entrance. He seemed quite fond of her, sharing glances and laughs with her; not in a flirty way it seemed, it was more like a brotherly type of fondness, which pleased Magnus enough. He didn’t want Isabelle to be in danger because some thugs think she’s _super hot_ or something like that.

“Magnus!” Isabelle called as soon as she made eye contact with him. Before he could move she was already by his side, hanging from his arm. “You look as dashing as ever. At least someone cares about style here.”

“I could say the same thing about you,” Magnus said with a smile. It wasn’t hard for him to catch what she meant with her last sentence. “You mean your brother? It’s true that he isn’t exactly interested in fashion.”

“I’m counting on his personality to compensate for that, though I’m not sure about that either.” Isabelle was talking to herself, so Magnus decided not to answer that as hilarious as it was. “Anyways, shall we?”

Magnus gestured with one hand telling her to lead the way. Isabelle winked at the guard after she whispered something in his ear on their way inside. Magnus could only recall the name of the guard from whatever she told him. _Roger_ apparently didn’t have any objections on Magnus getting inside without even asking for an ID or a membership card; whoever got Isabelle into this club gave her quite the benefits.

The place inside was a completely chaos. A good kind of chaos, of course. The club consisted in one big room that was virtually divided in areas; the dance floor taking most of the space, the lights flashing different colors and figures on the people dancing at the loud music coming from speakers placed around the room; the DJ was practically hidden somewhere under some stairs that led to the VIP area; one very narrow part of the club was destined for the bar, that was also full of clients.

There wasn’t a part of this place that wasn’t crowded. Except probably for the little amount of seats that was meant for those who weren’t so interested in dancing or staying at the bar.

The place was so organized even in its chaos, and there was a sweet smell feeling the air, not even a sight of problem around them. This club seemed way too _clean_ , for lack of a better word. As if someone took a regular club and erased all the things that were gross and dangerous. But the night was still young and Magnus could still prove himself wrong.

“You are going to have to tell me how in hell you got into this place, my friend,” Magnus whispered in her ear, leaning to her until his nose touched her hair.

Isabelle let out a laugh and gracefully unhooked herself from his arm.

“That’s a story for another time,” she promised to him. Isabelle was beaming. “Have fun, Magnus!”

And then she was lost between the crowds on the dance floor. Some seconds later Magnus was finally able to find her dancing with Clary and a guy with glasses, completely oblivious of the way both of them were looking at her. If Magnus remember correctly, this guy was Simon, Clary’s best friend. She always talked about him in their unofficial meetings.

While seeing them having fun brought a smile on Magnus’ face, they weren’t the only reason Magnus was in this club in the first place. He did a quick scan of the room again, and was not surprised at all when his eyes found Alec sitting at the bar. Not because he considered Alec someone who will _drink_ , but because his denim shirt was striking next to designer dresses and shirts.

Magnus walked to him as slowly as possible, trying to come up with the right approach. The art of socializing came to Magnus naturally, but from the few encounters he had with Alec Lightwood, he knew that some things won’t exactly work with him as great as they would with someone else. Or maybe he was thinking too much as he always did.

“I was going to say ‘is this seat taken?’” Magnus started, calling Alec’s attention and sitting next to him by the bar, “but to be completely honest I’m sitting either way.”

“Hey, you’re here!” Alec pointed with a sudden smile on his face. It hit Magnus a little too hard, but he was able to compose himself fast enough. “I’ve been sitting here alone for almost half an hour. The bartender is about to kick me out for having only sodas.”

“How about we change that, then?” Magnus asked the bartender for two drinks before Alec could complain about it.

It wasn’t the first time Magnus shared a drink with Alec, but there was certainly a difference between red wine and vodka, and that showed on Alec’s face when he took the first sip of his drink. The little grimace that appeared on his face when he tasted the alcohol was almost _cute_ , but Magnus didn’t allow himself to laugh so instead, he hid his smile behind his glass.

“And _why_ exactly are you sitting here, and not on the dance floor with your siblings?” Magnus knew that Isabelle wasn’t the only one here, but he didn’t exactly know Jace yet, so he couldn’t identify him. “I mean, this place is pretty impressive and the music isn’t bad either.”

“I already told you, I’m not a party person.” Alec pretended to give another sip to his drink. “I’m here because someone needs to take these drunks home after this.”

“So you’re telling me that a college student such as yourself has never actually enjoyed a party before?” Magnus said pretending to be offended by the idea. Alec laughed a little. It was nice to see him laugh because it changed his expression completely and made his muscles lose tension.

“Exactly.” Surprising Magnus, Alec downed the rest of his drink in one sip. There was still some subtle reaction on his face that Magnus was only able to see because of the little distance between them.

“Does that mean you’re not going to dance with me? I mean, _you_ invited me to this party, you will at least give me one dance, right?” Magnus was good at persuading people, though he almost never used this method to do so. But pushing Alec directly didn’t seem like a good plan.

“Believe me, you’ll thank me for refusing,” Alec told him, looking over his shoulder to the crowd for a second. “I suck at dancing, Singing? Yeah, I can sing, but I’m clumsy with my feet.”

“That can hardly be true,” Magnus scanned the room to find Izzy again, dancing now with a blonde guy. Isabelle danced like a goddess, because there was no other way to describe the fluid movements of her hips in unison with her arms and legs. “I’m sure your mother was very keen in teaching you and your siblings how to dance.”

“Not for this kind of parties. Mom would be terrified by Izzy’s dancing abilities, you can trust me on that,” Alec admitted. Maryse did seem like the type to hate this type of gatherings. “So yes, dancing is not my _forte_.”

If there was something Magnus was really good at, was at improvising and finding new approaches. Maybe sometimes it took him some time to come up with new ideas, but he was definitely the type to find something to work with sooner or later. And figuring Alec out was a little complicated but not entirely impossible. They were friends already, so the rest was mostly about being assertive but not _too_ assertive.

“And isn’t this a great opportunity to learn something new? You’ll be glad to learn that, in fact, dancing is _my_ forte,” Magnus said standing from his stool and extending his hand for Alec to reach. “Come on, I promise to take care of you.”

Alec stared at his joined hands for long seconds, deliberating his options. After fidgeting with his own fingers for another minute or so, he looked back at Magnus, still sitting on his stool.

“Are you sure about this? I _really_ suck,” Alec promised and Magnus noticed that one of his legs was already dangling, like he was half way about to give in and stand.

“Do I look like someone that is not sure?”

“No, you don´t.” Alec finally stood, and there was some red on his cheeks that could either be from embarrassment or the drink he had. Albeit uncertain, Alec took Magnus’ hand and allowed himself to be guided to the dance floor. “But don’t laugh!”

Magnus was already laughing but the loud music hid his giggles perfectly from the taller man. At first Alec’s movements were tense and mechanic, trying to mirror Magnus’ more fluid and natural ones. As someone who had to assist to many parties and impress either clients or potential lovers, knowing how to dance was a need to survive, in a sense.

He didn’t touch Alec once or danced close to him; he preferred to not scare Alec more than he already was, but instead tried to hold the dance moves and throw casual advice to Alec, until he was actually moving quite good and having fun.

 

Alec never danced like this and he certainly never imagined himself having fun in this kind of situation. But against everything he believed in, he was happy. When he asked Magnus not to laugh he did not expect to find _himself_ laughing out of joy. Between screams to be heard in the music, Magnus told him that dancing didn’t need so much thought; that he just needed to lose some tension and give himself to his own body.

While everything sounded poetic at first, it all started to make sense when he dropped his shoulders and stopped trying to impress anyone; this was the one activity Alec couldn’t solve with a manual guide. So he tried, and he was having fun.

So many years he was scared of trying new stuff, and here he was, dancing on a nightclub with a friend that he knew for, what, a week? And it felt good for change, not thinking about his mother or his reputation or what anyone could think but himself. If his siblings saw him they would be so proud and he will never hear the end of it. But the idea didn’t sound as bad as it might before.

The song was about to change, and before Alec could stop himself; he was softly pulling at Magnus’ sleeve.

Both their eyes looked down at the way Alec’s fingers trapped the fabric, like in desperation, and then they looked up at each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I used way too much spanish in here, oops. If any of you have trouble understanding please just say the word and I'll gladly translate anything to you! Hope you enjoyed and that you guys will forgive me for taking so long. Love you! xoxo

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! You can find me (and talk to me!) on tumblr at: [MattLightwood](http://mattlightwood.tumblr.com)


End file.
